Defying Gravity
by Yuki Asao
Summary: The story about a girl's dream and how Neverland's magic makes it come true, not knowing the consequences would be so severe.
1. Summary

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Peter Pn. Just Jade and her family and friends.

I am in college, so please forgive me for not updating in what, a year? Two? Yeah yeah no excuse I know. But please bear with me. I just received a review and an e-mail from someone who rekindled the fire in me to write this story, to start it again. I stopped it because it was not going in the way I wanted it to go, and she made me realize that your stories control you, you don't control your stories.

Thank you!

Full Summary

A 16-turning-17 year old girl named Jade does not want to grow up. She would rather die on Captain Hook's hook as a child than grow up and die old, wrinkled, forgetful, and not active. She meets the real Wendy while she is walking on a street with her nose in a book heading home. Wendy notices that this girl is reading 'Peter Pan' by J.M. Barrie, and she stops her.

Wendy invites Jade back to her cousin, Amelia's, house, and she tells Jade all of her adventures with Peter. She gives her something special before Jade went home and told her something Jade will never forget.

Wendy dies a few weeks later, and Jade becomes depressed. Then one night, she meets the boy she grew so fond of in the last 17 years of her life, but he flies out of the room as quickly as he possibly could once he realizes that she is awake. She finds something he dropped, and uses it as one proof of three to prove he was really there the next day when her friend came over.

She got into a fight with both her parents and her friend, and she did not succeed in getting her friend to believe in Peter Pan. Her friend goes home, and she is left to her thoughts in her room. Then Peter Pan gives her another surprise visit and takes her on the adventure of a lifetime.

There are many battles, losses and victories, as well as new friends and enemies. This story is full of action, adventure, suspense, and humor. I wrote a previous Peter Pan story called 'All you need is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust', but I wasn't satisfied with that one. This is the revised version of it. The other story had only three chapters, and with this new one, I kept the first chapter with extremely minor revision and I went from there.

Short clip from a later chapter in this story: Jade's body was poised in a battle stance, tense and rigid with pure anger. Her normally pine eyes flashed bright green in her rage. They were narrowed, locked on the person in front of her, and she looked absolutely terrifying to anyone who would have seen her then. Her red, coppery hair looked ablaze in the hot afternoon sun, and her fiery redhead temper had been trying to get the best of her the entire time, and it finally had.

Anyone who knew her and how she was with that temper of hers would have been surprised and even scared if they were able to see her like this. Even Peter couldn't believe the amount of rage that was coursing through the veins in her body. He took a step back.

She was slightly twisted, her left leg a little in front of her right, both facing to her right, but barely. Her upper body was facing forward, her left arm stuck out a little to help keep her balance and her right arm reached across her stomach, hand on dagger, ready to strike at any moment. Her eyes narrowed further. "You're mine, Hook."


	2. Ch 1: A normal morning in Neverland

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PETER PAN. The wonderful amazing J.M Barrie does.  
Oh if only I could go to Neverland for real ::sighs::

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Peter Pan sat in a big Oak tree overlooking the Mermaid Lagoon playing his panpipes, its low, sweet tone emanating from it drifted down throughout the forest, slowly waking up the creatures that lived there. The mermaids below him were listening to the soft music, completely entranced by it. The birds chirped softly in their nests, enjoying the sound. The gossamer threads of spider webs glistened in the early morning sun. Everything and everywhere on the small island of Neverland was peaceful – everywhere but the Jolly Roger.

"God DAMN that brat Peter Pan!! Why can't I ever get him where I want him? Blast it! That slimy swab! I can't wait to drive me sword straight THROUGH him! SMEE!!!" Captain James Hook, or just Hook as we like to call him, yelled in a gruff, deep voice. He was pacing back and forth in his private cabin, which was decorated richly.

Inside he had his bed, a bedside table with a lamp on it, a beautiful Russian rug in the center of the floor, a gorgeous dark mahogany desk filled with maps mostly of Neverland and other tools he needed to use the maps (example, a compass), a lamp on the desk, and a dark mahogany chair fit for a mighty pirate like him to match the desk. Oh yes, of course you can't forget the harpsichord.

"Y-y-y-yes, Cap'n? You called?" asked a very nervous Smee. He had every right to be nervous; his famous pirate captain had a nasty habit of being...well, nasty. If you annoyed him or made him mad enough, he would kill you on impulse.

"WHY is it that I can't get to PAN?!! It's driving me INSANE!!! None of our plans ever work! If we do manage to capture that annoying, crowing boy, he always escapes!!" yelled an enraged Hook. He had tried to capture Peter the day before, but he didn't come close to even capturing the boy. "Pan knows ALL of my tricks. I need to think up something that's clever and will trick him...one of our old tricks revised."

Peter heard Hook from where he was on the Oak tree, for it was not that far away from Hook's ship. He snickered, and had to fight off the tremendous urge to go and tease Hook because he didn't want to risk anything if he could help it when Hook was that mad. He learned that the hard way, and he has a large scar running down his left bicep to prove that.

"Maybe we should try something different?"

"What do you mean, Smee? What are you saying?"

"What I am saying, Cap'n, is we should try something new."

"And what exactly would that be?" asked Hook in a low but dangerous tone, inches from Smee's face.

"Why don't you try to...capture a girl? From the world Wendy came from? Capture her, bring her here, tie her to the mast, and wait for Peter to come," said Smee, happy that his idea came back to him.

"Smee...you are a genius! What an idea! It's fool-proof! And when he does make his appearance, we will have sharpened swords and guns waiting for him! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Hook said, letting out his most evil laugh.

"Thank you, Cap'n!" Smee said with delight.

"Now all we need to do is take a trip to London - no, wait, even better – AMERICA! And bring back a girl. On to New England!" Captain Hook said as he curled his moustache around the deadly weapon in place of his right hand that he was named for. Of course he did not know that what he knew as New England was now broken up into many states, as well as the western part after it had been discovered.

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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Uhhh..." a girl of 16 rolled over, still half-asleep, to shut off her alarm clock. Her name

was Jade Smith. She had deep red hair, the color of blood, not like a fire truck, that held big waves, not small ones, and deep dark green eyes speckled with very fine gray flecks. She got out of bed and turned on the lights. "AHH!! Geez..." she said as the light blinded her for a second. She quickly got used to it, but it still hurt a little to open her eyes all the way. "Why do we have to get up so early..." she said as she looked at the clock. It read 7:00 am. She groaned. She slipped out of her pajamas and walked over to her closet.

She pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans, a baby- blue tank top, and a light red sweater that zipped up the front. She kept it open. She then put on her white, black, and blue new balance sneakers. She looked at herself in her full-length mirror, and took her hair out of her messy bun it was in.

Her blood red hair tumbled down her back to her waist, almost to her backside. She smiled, now fully awake, her pine-colored eyes sparkling, pleased with what she saw. She headed to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and hair, then took her school bag which was also dark navy and light blue (guess what her favorite color is) and went downstairs. She looked at the clock again. 7:30. she snatched a granola bar from the cabinet and headed outside  
down the street to her bus, ready for school.

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Jade's POV (point of view)

Ergh...History first period. Yuck. Why does history, of all periods, have to be first? No wonder I don't do as well. I'm always tired in the morning. Though I'm awake enough. Still. Oh well. I shrugged my shoulders and walked into the classroom. I thought about my hero, Peter Pan, the whole time. I still listened to the lesson, though. I'm a multi-tasker I guess you can say.

Let me tell you something you should know about me. I am literally in LOVE with Peter Pan. NO! NO!! Not THAT kind of love::Exasperated sigh:: He was my childhood hero, and still is. I love all the stories about him with his lost boys, playing treasure hunt, hide-and-seek, catch the Indian, and Peter's adventures with Hook and Tiger Lily. Ahhhh finally. History is over. Now on to English. Not boring. I love English. I love writing.

After a period of writing about Peter Pan and talking about writing styles, it was time for my free period. And guess what I did? I fantasized about Peter. I also went online to an amazing  
website called where you can read all different kind of stories from a book, Movie, cartoon, TV-show, Japanese anime show, etc. that people write themselves. I read all about Peter. I love reading about him, even if the stories are made up by people and written down.

**Advisory** – think about Peter Pan some more and read more stories on **Astronomy** – study for an upcoming test. Yuck.  
**Math** – great class. Laugh and joke around with Ms. Roantree. Also do math. Fantasize about Peter Pan.  
**Free period** – fantasize about Peter Pan.  
**Lunch** – fantasize about Peter Pan and hang out with my friends.  
**Chemistry** – pay attention. I like Chem.  
**Drama** – fun class. Love it. Practice for the play, 'The Pajama Game'. Talk to best friend Ashley about Peter Pan.  
**After-school rehearsal for play** – practice and talk to Ashley, Emily, and Samantha, my three best friends, about Peter Pan.

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"Oh my God, Jade, you are OBSESSED!" Ashley said as we all laughed.

"So what? You're obsessed with Spike! I know, I know, I admit it. And I'm damn proud of it, too. (Samantha was about to say something but I, knowing what she was about to say, cut her off) I don't care what you think, Sam, but I think – no, I KNOW – that Peter Pan is real. I believe in him and Neverland." Samantha just sighed. Both she and Ashley rolled their eyes.

"I believe in him, too, Jade!" Emily piped up She isn't part of our "Japanese group", but a great friend of ours, no less. "I believe in everything about him. I bet it'd be so much fun to be able to fly!" Emily giggled.

"Yes, I would give up anything, even my life here on earth, just to live in Neverland. Even if I were only able to visit, It would be the best trip I would ever have in my life. Oh how I would love to see the Mermaid Lagoon, the Indian encampment, Skull Rock, and the Jolly Roger!" I said, my eyes wide with glee.

"What's the Jolly Roger?" both Ashley and Samantha asked in unison.

"Oh please, don't tell me you don't know what it is. After being best friends with both me and Em, living with us talking constantly about Peter Pan and his adventures in Neverland, you should know what the Jolly Roger is," I said to them. They both shook their heads no. Emily and I sighed.

"The Jolly Roger is Captain Hook's ship," Emily told them.

"Oh," Ashley replied, not that interested.

We were finally let out of rehearsal, and Emily, Ashley, Samantha, and I were walking down the steps out of our school to our parents' cars.

"Oh how I would love to go to Neverland! Visit the mermaid Lagoon, just think! Real mermaids! And Captain Hook's Pirate ship! Haha! Take THAT, Captain Codfish!!" I said as I jabbed the air with an imaginary sword. We all laughed at my comment, not aware of the dark, blue, sinister eyes watching us from the shadows. Watching me.

"She's the one."

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Hi, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! I do so love reviews. 


	3. Ch 2: The Advice of a Friend

DISCLAIMER: I only own Jade and her relatives and friends. That's it. I do not own Peter Pan.

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It was a cool, breezy Saturday afternoon and Jade was walking home from town. She had gone to get a bag of some groceries for her mother, and she had decided to walk instead of ride her bike. She only lived five minutes away, after all. Her nose was stuck in a book as she walked down the sidewalk, dodging people and signs and lampposts.

Of all the people on the sidewalks, an elderly woman around the age of 80 spotted this youth and thought to herself that she was amazing the way she could read and yet still manage to maneuver around the obstacles in her way. She was on the same side of the street as the girl, and the girl was walking towards her. When the girl was close enough for the woman to see her clearly, the girl lifter her head from the book and looked around, then at her watch.

When she looked down at her watch, she lifted up the book in her left hand slightly, but enough so that the woman could see what she was reading. Then she went back to her book and started walking again. She caught up to the woman, and the woman finally spoke.

"Excuse me, dear, is that 'Peter Pan' you are reading?" she said with a British accent.

Jade looked up and closed the book with her finger still inside, holding her page.

"Yes, ma'am, it is."

"Do you like it?" the woman asked. Jade nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, I do. Very much. I've read it many times. Do you like 'Peter Pan'?"

"Yes, I do. It's nice to see someone who loves the book as much as I do. Not many people do these days."

"That's true, I know. I have a couple of friends that do, though, but they are only three. She sighs I wish Neverland and Peter Pan were real. The whole story…I want to live it. But that will never happen, I just wish I could meet him…oh never mind it's silly of me." Jade didn't know why she just told this total stranger that much. She just felt like…she could trust her, and not be afraid to tell her anything. But why? Why did she feel that way? Who is she? The woman chuckled.

"My dear, you can tell me anything you wish. Do you want to know something? I believe in him, too. Come closer, child, I want to tell you something." Jade did as she was asked. "I know him." Jade gasped. She looked wide-eyed at this woman.

"You…you…have met him?!" She couldn't believe her ears. The woman motioned towards a bench where no one was lingering around and they sat down.

"What is your name, child?" she asked.

"J…Jade, ma'am."

"My dear, Jade, do you have any clue of who I am?" Jade shook her head nervously.

"I feel that I can trust you, tell you everything about my past. I can sense that you will hold my secrets and cherish them. I can tell how much you believe in Peter Pan, and I want to share everything with you. My name is Wendy Moira Angela Gregors," Wendy said.

"Gregors?" Jade asked.

"My last name used to be Darling, until I got married. Oh Peter was so angry with me."

Wendy chuckled. "That was when he stopped coming to my window to take me to the neverland for spring cleaning." Jade couldn't believe her ears. This woman was Wendy. THE Wendy, from the story. Her face must have looked funny for Wendy started to laugh again. Jade composed herself.

"I…wow, it's…such an honor to meet you! Is it really you? Oh my gosh," Jade stammered. She was in shock. How could this be? What a chance meeting! Of all the people in the world, Wendy bumps into her, the girl who never wanted to grow up. And she, who bumped into the woman who once knew the boy who never wanted to grow up, and who also never did. Wendy chuckled again.

"Yes, I am the Wendy you know from his story. Peter Pan was definitely the most interesting boy I had ever met. I think he will be the same to you when you two meet," Wendy hinted. Jade's eyes widened again.

"You mean to tell me that he's going to visit me??! That's crazy. He doesn't even know that I exist."

"Well, you never know. Are you in a hurry?" Wendy asked suddenly. Jade was caught a little by surprise at the sudden question, but she shook her head.

"No. How come?"

"Will you come to my cousin's house, where I am staying for now, and, say, listen to stories of my adventures in Neverland? Savvy? (an adventurous twinkle in her eyes appeared and she smiled) What say you to that?" Jade laughed at the use of pirate language and the gleam in Wendy's eyes.

"Aye! I would be delighted, Red Handed Jill!" Wendy's smile broadened at the mention of her pirate name when she was on the Jolly Roger during her first trip to Neverland.

"Come with me. I don't live far from here, only two minutes. Do you have a cell phone so that you can call your parents to tell them you won't be home for a while?" Wendy asked.

"Yes, I do. Hold on one second while I call them."

Wendy and Jade had walked to Wendy's cousin's house and they were in the living room sitting on the sofa. Wendy's cousin walked into the room carrying a tray with tea and biscuits.

"Jade, I would like you to meet my cousin, Amelia, who has been taking very good care of me. Amelia, this is Jade. She believes in Peter Pan as well. I met her on a street in town, and I am going to tell her of my adventures. You may listen too, if you like," Wendy said.

"Thank you, Wendy, but I have other things in the house I must attend to." Amelia smiled weakly at the pair, and left.

"Well, where should I start? Hmm…how about the time when Peter stole and hid Captain Hook's best gold hook? It's as good a place to start as any. It was my second trip to Neverland and Peter and the Lost Boys wanted to find something to do. So Peter cooked up a plan to go to Raven's Town and…" Wendy told Jade many stories. All of them, in fact, up to her marriage when Peter became angry with her and flew off for the last time, vowing to never fall for another, never to see Wendy again. "That's all, I'm afraid. (Wendy took one look at Jade's face and laughed) I hope I kept your interest," She said with light sarcasm. The expression on the girl's face was one of adventure, daring, mischief, and a lustful hunger fo more stories, though Wendy had no more to give her. Her face fell a little, but then lit up again.

"Wendy?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever happened to John and Michael?" Wendy's face turned to sadness.

"They died, both of them, from heart attacks. They lived long, happy lives, though. I miss them terribly but I will be with them soon." Jade's face turned to surprise and horror.

"Oh no you won't! Wendy, you're not going to go that easily! You're strong. You've fought pirates, outrun Indians, chased the Lost Boys! You can't d…go so easily, I won't let you!" she said with strong determination that had always flowed through her veins.

"Oh, my dear if only that were true. But it isn't, and my time has come. I am not afraid of death, though, for I have faced it many times during the years I had known Peter Pan. You listen to me, though. You must keep being strong, never let your guard down, and never, never let your temper get the best of you. Listen to me, Jade. I can tell that you have an enormous amount of trust and faith, but not enough belief. You trust Peter and you have faith in him, but you must have more belief. That is dying down in you, and if you keep thinking that he won't come to you, it will eventually die down forever and it will never come back. Never. You must believe with all your heart that he will come. Do you understand me?" Wendy explained in her gentle motherly voice. Jade nodded.

"Yes, I do, it's just that…I did, once, but he never came. And each day it became less and less, and I started to lose faith in him. That I gained back, but my belief I didn't. I guess it was because I had been praying for him every night for three months. That's gotta lower your belief, and even your spirit. But by meeting you and listening to your stories, I gained that back, too. Not one hundred percent yet, but I can feel it working its way back up. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. It means so much." Wendy smiled.

"You are very welcome. I am so glad that I bumped into you. You are a very nice girl, and I'm sure that Peter will find you if he hasn't already. You should head on home now because it's 5:30 but before you do, I want to give you something. You wait right here. I will be back in a minute." Wendy went upstairs. When she came back, she was holding a tiny pouch with a string attached to it. "Here. Take this. Open it, but be careful to not spill its contents; it is very precious and you can't find any of it here on earth," Wendy hinted. She had that gleam in her eyes again.

Jade looked up at her and immediately knew exactly what was in the pouch. She opened it and sure enough, there was the glittery dust of all light colors with the main one being gold – pixie dust. Jade couldn't believe this…real pixie dust!

"Wow…Wendy! Are you sure you want to give this to me??" she asked.

"Yes. As I said earlier, I will not be around much longer and I have no need for it. I am old, and you can use that. I cannot."

"Thank you so much! Wow I can't believe this! This is so amazing! Wow…oh yeah, I have to go now. Again, Wendy, thank you. I can't thank you enough. You have just given me the biggest reason to have more and keep up my faith, trust, and belief in Peter Pan. Just seeing you

here and knowing you exist – you are proof." Wendy chuckled, and moved towards the door.

"You are very welcome. I am glad that I could help you. Now you really must go home before your parents call the police. (she chuckled softly again) Amelia will take you home."

Amelia walked into the living room towards the door with her coat on.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked Jade.

"Oh no, really, it's ok. I can walk home, there's no need to go out of your way," Jade said.

"Never mind that, it's alright. Let's go," Amelia said as Jade waved a goodbye to Wendy and started walking to Amelia's car. Then suddenly she turned around and ran back to Wendy and hugged her. This took Wendy by surprise, but she smiled and hugged her back.

"Thanks for everything," Jade said into Wendy's shoulder.

"My pleasure." Jade broke away gently and walked to the car. She got in, and Amelia drove her home. It was already getting dark out, and Wendy looked up at one star shining brighter than all the rest.

"I know you can hear me, Peter. Please grant my last dying wish, and make her one greatest wish come true. Go to her and take her to Neverland with you. That is all I ask of you. Goodnight, Peter." Wendy turned and walked back into the house.

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Jade and Wendy stayed good friends, and they visited each other often. Wendy met Jade's parents, but she did not tell them who she was in fear of getting Jade in trouble. She simply was known as Wendy Gregors, and that was that. Weeks passed, then another month, and Wendy grew weaker. One night Jade got a phone call. It was Amelia calling from the hospital giving Jade the news that Wendy had died. Jade was in shock.

"Th…thank you." She hung up the phone with a shaky hand and just sat there. Her mother came into the room and saw her daughter so in shock that she couldn't even show any emotions.

"Jade? Honey? Who was that?" No answer. "Jade? Who was on the phone?"

"Amelia. At the hospital," Jade replied monotonously.

"Huh? Why did the hospital call…(she gasped) Oh no, it's Wendy, isn't it?" Jade nodded. Her eyes hadn't moved from the one spot she had been looking at ever since she got off the phone. "Jade, I'm so sorry. I know how much you loved her." Her mother came over to her and hugged her daughter, taking her out of her trance. Jade hugged her back, but she refused to cry the tears that were threatening to spill over any moment. She was a tough girl, and never let anyone see her cry. She felt it made her seem weak in a way.

"Thanks, mom."

"Of course. Do you want me to drive you down there to say goodbye to Wendy?" she asked. Jade shook her head.

"No, Amelia said she would drive me. Thank you, though. You can come if you want," Jade said, still speaking slowly.

"Alright." Her mother left the room. Jade couldn't believe that she would die so soon. She, her family, Amelia, and Wendy had all celebrated Wendy's eighty-first birthday just a week ago. They had so much fun, and Wendy still seemed pretty healthy. She died from the same thing her two brothers died from – a heart attack. The doorbell rang and Jade slowly got up from the chair by her computer and walked downstairs to meet Amelia and her mother waiting for her. They drove to the hospital, Jade looking out the window at the gloomy day.

'What a perfect day to die on. Clouds for miles, not a sign of sky anywhere. Drizzles of rain,' Jade thought to herself sarcastically. They arrived at the hospital and walked inside. They took the elevator up to Wendy's room to say their last goodbyes. Mrs. Smith, Jade's mother, and Amelia left the room to leave Jade alone with Wendy. That is when Jade's strong barrier broke. She was so upset and depressed over the death of one of her dearest friends, the only friend who gave her a reason to keep believing.

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**Hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Poor Remember to read and REVIEW! PLEASE review my chapters! I love it when people do that. It keeps me motivated and makes me want to write more.**


	4. Ch 3: Dreams Can't Come True, Can They?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Peter Pan or anything related to the story. I only own Jade and co.

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Jade went silently up to her room when she got back home and cried. She cried like she never had before. She lost her only friend and companion who truly believed in Peter Pan. She was the only person she knew who had met and known Peter. Who could tell his adventures better than any book or movie.

Jade knew she would never forget Wendy, and a little gift she received that night just a few hours ago from Amelia would help her to remember and remind her about Wendy. This was something very special, and she absolutely could not lose it. You see, on the first day the two met, unknown to Jade, Wendy had asked Amelia to tape their conversation for Jade to keep forever.

From the moment she first saw the girl walking down a street in town, her nose stuck in the book, Peter Pan, she knew that she was special. When Amelia arrived back at the house that night after dropping Jade off, Wendy had told her to give Jade the tape when she (Wendy) died.

Jade picked up the small tape and fiddled with it, turning it over and rubbing her thumb on the label, which had "Wendy and Jade" written on it in blue ink. She popped it into her tape player, went to shut the lights, and climbed into bed, crying as she listened to Wendy's soft voice drifting to her ears. A strangled "Why?" escaped her lips as she slowly shut her eyes and fell asleep, failing to notice a strange boy staring at her from the window.

"She and Wendy must have been close…Is she really that upset? Is that why she didn't come to the window tonight to talk to me? What do you think, Tink?" The small pixie made an annoyed and uninterested jingling sound, like the clangor of bells. Peter jumped as he was startled by how loud she was, and quickly cupped her in his hands.

"SSSHHHH, Tink! You'll wake her up! Do you want her to hear you?!" Tinkerbell haughtily rang her bells and turned away from Peter, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Peter was confused. For the past two months, this girl had come to her window every night. She would open it, lean out onto the half-roof that connected to her house right under the window sill, and took a couple of deep breaths of the cool fresh night air.

She would then start speaking to Peter, even though she never saw him, because she believed in him so much. She would ask him to take her away from the life she led on Earth because she hated all of the responsibilities she had to deal with. She would beg him to come to her window and take her with him and they would never come back. She would stare at one brilliant conspicuous star that had caught her eye one night two months earlier.

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(Flashback - Two months ago)

_The moment she saw it, she was entranced. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. She_

_whispered something so soft, almost inaudible, but Peter had heard it. "Neverland…"_

_Peter felt something within her that night, something very strong. She believed. No_

_matter how old she seemed to be or how developed she was, she still had the heart and_

_spirit of a child and believed in him. The eternal boy. Peter had been out wandering and_

_didn't mean to make a rest stop, but he saw a big beautiful house. Now Peter, being the_

_curious youth he was, couldn't pass up the chance of getting involved in any kind of_

_adventure, big or small. So he flew to the closed window and saw a pretty girl who had_

_her back to him with hair the color he had never seen before – it was the color of a_

_Neverland sunset, reds and golds mixed together like fire._

'_Great! A new mother for us!' Peter thought to himself. Then the girl turned around._

_Peter flew back a few feet, startled by the girl's appearance, then flew back to the_

_window. This was no girl. This was a woman. She had curves in places Peter never knew_

_could curve that way. Wait…he looked closer. She was…almost a woman. She still had a_

_child's aura and that child-like spark in her eyes. And she was…crying?_

'_Why is she crying?' She walked over to the window, and he flew up and out of sight. He_

_noticed that she had shut off the lights in her room. Something had caught her eye, so she_

_opened the window and looked out._

"_That's odd. I could've sworn I saw something. Oh well." She was about to shut the_

_window again when something else caught her eye. A single beautiful flickering star, one_

_that dwarfed the rest, shone brightly in the winter sky. The girl gasped. She had never_

_seen anything like the star in all of the sixteen years she had lived in that house. Never_

_once had she noticed it. She leaned out onto the half-roof to get a better glimpse of the_

_star, enjoying the cold, gentle breeze that shifted her hair around, making it flow in _

_waves__like blood red water. She looked like a princess. She closed her eyes and breathed _

_in deeply,__smiling as she leaned a bit further out. Peter wanted so badly to take her to _

_Neverland__right then and there, but he didn't dare for she was just too grown up. Maybe _

_not on the__inside, but her figure screamed it loud and clear – she was a woman, no matter _

_how much she protested and said she wasn't. He could tell that she was not completely _

_innocent, but__he knew that it was not her fault. He knew why, and he remembered, but _

_that is another story for another_ _day._

_She sighed and retired back into her room, kneeling on the floor and sighing, gazing_

_longingly at the star. She laid her arms horizontally on the windowsill and rested her _

_chin_ _on her hands. She closed her eyes for about five seconds and when she opened them,_

_Peter noticed that she was crying again._

(End flashback – present time)

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Peter came back to the girl's house every night after that because she intrigued

him and peaked his interest and curiosity like none had ever before. No, not even Wendy. She didn't tell the kind of fantasy stories Peter loved, but he did enjoy the stories she told her friends on something attached to a cord she called a phone or at her house whenever they came over.

She told about the horrid thing Peter never wanted to hear about – school. He never thought it could be fun, but she made it seem like it was. She talked about her other friends or people in her school who were stupid or morons and they did this and that – Peter thought they were funny stories.

How these people could be so stupid as to punch their brother and then turn around…only to run into a pole. He had no idea. He wanted a closer look of the girl, so that night, he silently pushed open the window (it was unlocked. The girl never locked it) and flew inside. It was 5 o'clock in the morning by the time he gathered up his courage to enter the "adult's" room. He flew to her bed and hovered over her. She looked so calm and content when she was sleeping, just like a child.

'That's probably because she is dreaming about me!' he thought as his chest swelled with pride. He took an even closer look at the girl sleeping peacefully below him. She looked like…

Like a child no older than 12 or 13 underneath those thick blankets. She looked so innocent, especially with the light sprinkling of freckles on her face, though Peter could tell she was not. Surprisingly, that little fact didn't scare him away. It only made him all the more curious about her. Who was she? What was she like? She had a grown-up's body but the spirit, energy, and imagination of a child who never wanted to grow up.

Because of that one fact, though, he could never take her to Neverland. Ironic, isn't it? All children that go there and stay are younger than her, and pure. Innocent. She was not. The only way she would be able to go is if she was younger. A light bulb went off in Peter's clever head. Wait!! What if he could make her young again? With some kind of fairy magic. Yeah! Maybe…just maybe that could work.

'If I ever managed to do that, she would be able to come with me and never come back to the miserable life she has here,' Peter thought. She would be innocent again. Free. Her dream would come true. He reached out and ever so slightly touched her cheek.

"Do not worry, lady. I will make you young again, and then you can come with me. No longer will you be forced to deal with all of this 'work' you speak of. You will be free, like you always dreamed. I promise you that," Peter whispered softly to her. He looked over at the thing the girl was listening to earlier that night.

He flew over about half a foot to her night table and looked closer at the curious machine, and pressed a button. The part of the tape player that holds the tape clicked and popped put. This startled the boy and he flew back a few feet, pulling out his dagger at record speed.

He sheathed his dagger when he was sure that the crazy thing wasn't going to do anything to him and he flew back to it, examining it further. He pressed another button, this time making the machine "talk". It sounded like an elderly woman's voice speaking in a familiar voice used in all of the stories she used to tell.

"Oh Peter was a mischievous boy, full of laughter and joy. He came to my window to hear the many stories I told Michael and John…" Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. When the voice mentioned what he had done so many years before, he knew that the voice coming from the machine belonged to his beloved friend, Wendy.

How this was happening, he hadn't the faintest idea. She was dead, after all. All he knew was she was the one who was speaking, telling his story and of her adventures with him and her brothers. The girl's eyes slowly fluttered open at the soft noise coming from the tape player next to her. Also, Peter's touch earlier had awakened her senses. Peter was hovering over her again, and when she opened her eyes, he was startled.

He quickly flew up and out of the window as she gasped and got out of her bed. She ran to the window and leaned out, scanning the sky for the boy. She then spotted a shooting star that shot towards "her star", as she called it, which brightly lit up when the other star collided with it. A huge smile lit up her face, as she knew who it was that had just visited her.

She also had evidence – the open window, the tape playing, and a single skeleton leaf that lay on the floor by the window, dropped from the boy's leafy attire when he rushed out in a hurry so as to not be seen. Jade yawned and shivered. She shut the window without locking it and went to take a shower.

After that, she would get ready for a Friday at school. It was, after all, 6 o'clock. She couldn't go back to sleep. No, not after her exciting visit. A visit by a young boy, an eternal youth. A visit by a young boy whom she had wanted to meet so badly for the longest time. A visit by a boy named Peter Pan.

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**Hiya! Hope you liked it. Now all you hafta do is press that button below on the left side that says "Go" and review! Yes, that button. NO there is no other! THAT ONE::points to the review button::**


	5. Ch 4: The Dream

Disclaimer: I do not own any original characters in Peter Pan. Only Jade and co.

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Chapter 5 – The "Dream": A friend's opinion

When Jade came home from school, she ran to the chair in her room and lifted up the cushion.

"Whoa, I really need to clean this out," she said when she saw the mess of papers, bad tests, and conversations from online that were not to be seen by her parents that had built up over the past three years. It was almost spring, early March to be exact, and she would be applying to colleges in just a matter of months. She rolled her eyes at the thought and sighed heavily.

"Oh, Peter. If you don't come soon, it will be too late." She found what she was looking for and took the skeleton leaf from its hiding place, pushing the cushion back down. She walked over to her phone in the other room (her study) looked at the clock, which read 5:45 (she got home late because of play rehearsal), and decided to call her best friend, Nadia.

"Hello?" came Nadia's voice from the other end of the line a few houses down.

"Hey, it's me. What's up?" Jade asked.

"Not much. You?" Nadia replied.

"I've got something I want to tell you! Can you come over? Please?"

"Uhh…yeah, I think so. Hold on." Jade waited, and after a brief moment, Nadia came back. "Ok I'll be over in a few minutes. Bye."

"Ok, bye." Jade hung up the phone. 'Oh man this is so unbelievable…it's unreal!' she thought as she put her school bag by the foot of her bed and went downstairs to make macaroni and cheese – her and her best friend's favorite thing to eat when she and her sisters came over. She has three sisters – Nishat somewhere in California (24), Nigar in Stanford University, California (17), and Nahid (15), the youngest and in her junior year of high school.

Nadia, 16 turning 17 (like Jade but a month later) is in her senior year of high school. The reason for them all being a year younger than the average grade ages is because they started school one year early. Nigar was in college at this point, though, so she isn't in the story. Nigar and Nahid also love macaroni, and olives and pickles. Oh GOD how they love pickles. Whenever the trio gets together at Jade's house, they have a macaroni and pickle fest. When they get together, they are nuts. It's pretty hilarious, actually.

Jade put the frozen macaroni into the microwave and punched in 5:00 minutes. The light inside the small machine turned on and the macaroni started to revolve. She walked over to fridge and took out a can of diet sprite, her favorite. It tasted really good, better than normal sprite she thought, and it had zero calories. The perfect drink. She leaned on the counter staring out the window, sprite in hand. If you could see her, you would say that it looked like she was in a daze. Her eyes were unfocused, and they looked like they were searching for something; no, not searching, looking straight at something that was far away. She was thinking about something…

"Wendy…" she whispered. The microwave beeped, pulling Jade out of her trance. She shook of the depressed feeling that was threatening to overcome her. 'No. I have to be strong and move on. I can't keep dwelling on something that already happened. It couldn't have been helped,' she thought to herself. She took the food out of the microwave and set it up on a plate, ready to eat when Nadia arrived. As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Jade walked to the front door to let her friend in.

"So then he punched his brother, turned around, and ran straight into a pole!" Jade said, telling Nadia about one of her stupid but hilarious friends, Jon. Both girls laughed.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Nadia asked, reminding Jade of what had happened the night before. Jade got up, put away the dishes, and motioned to follow her upstairs. The walked into her room and she opened the window slightly. It was dark outside, but not late – about 6:30. Then she turned to Nadia and spoke.

"You know how much I love the story of Peter Pan, right? And how much I believe in him and Neverland?" Nadia rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Jade he isn't real–"

"WAIT! Just listen to me. He is real, and I have proof," Jade cut her off. "Last night, I went to sleep crying while listening to the tape of Wendy that Amelia gave me on my boom box. I made sure that I didn't have it on repeat so it would stop when it was done. I had a dream that someone was gently touching my face, and then I woke up to a soft noise coming from my left. That was my boom box playing Wendy's tape. When I opened my eyes - and I admit that I was sleepy and thought that it was a dream at first – there was the face of a boy no older than 14 with messy, wavy dirty-blonde hair that was streaked with gold from endless days in the sun.

I gasped and opened my eyes completely when I realized that I wasn't dreaming. NO, wait, I'm not done (Nadia opened her mouth to say something). He gasped as well, startled at seeing me awake, and in fear of me seeing him, he flew backwards quickly and shot out of the window. I didn't dream that someone was touching my cheek – it was real. It was Peter Pan! It was-" Nadia had been trying to say something the whole time Jade was talking and she finally interrupted her.

"JADE! Listen to me! You're overreacting. You're extremely excited about this amazing dream you just had, but-" It was Jade's turn to cut off Nadia again.

"No, Nadia. You don't understand. I have proof. He had turned on the tape player before I woke up. When I did, and he flew away, I got up and ran to the open window which I had shut right before I went to bed and found," she ran to her chair and lifted up the seat cushion, taking out the leaf she found earlier that morning, "this. A single skeleton leaf that broke off of his clothes when he left in such a hurry. Naturally, I couldn't go to sleep, also considering the fact that it was 5:30 in the morning, so I took a shower, then left for school.

Nadia, you can't tell me that this was a dream. No, not with all the proof I have. The tape playing, the open window, and the skeleton leaf, plus the fact that I hadn't gone back to sleep after that. You know you're wrong, and this (she holds up the leaf) proves it." Jade stared at Nadia with a confident, excited expression plastered on her face. True, Nadia thought that these three things were weird, and MAYBE slightly suspicious, though even that was pushing it in her mind, but she could explain them.

"Jade, let me explain. Last night, you were really tired, not to mention depressed and extremely upset over Wendy's death. You thought that you had closed the window, but you actually didn't. You either turned on the tape player on your boom box but you did not turn off the repeat button from a different CD or tape you had listened to before you put Wendy's tape in and completely forgot about it OR you pushed it thinking you were turning it off when actually, you turned it on instead.

As for the leaf; a simple leaf from the tree right outside your window that had floated in during the night. The encounter with your favorite fairy tale? A dream. You woke up in your shower. You used to sleepwalk, you could do it again. Well, there you have it. Everything summed up for you. I don't mean to murder your hopes and excitement, but there's the truth," Nadia stated simply but firmly. Then she saw her friend's face fall, and she looked so sad.

'Oh man now she probably thinks I'm horrible and I'm not a good friend because I don't believe her. I'd better clear this up,' Nadia thought to herself. Her face became sympathetic as she continued to look at her fallen friend. "Listen, Jade…(she let out an aggravated sigh) I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you or make you any more upset than you already were. It's just that there really isn't such a thing as Neverland or Peter Pan.

I don't believe in these things; I can't bring myself to. I don't mean to sound nasty or anything like that, I just want you to see and understand that you're living in a dream world. I'm sorry. (she sighed again) Oh, Jade." Nadia hugged Jade as a single tear slid down her right cheek. Jade silently cried on Nadia's shoulder as she hugged her back, small, quiet sobs escaping her every now and then.

"My parents…want me to stop thinking about all of these babyish things and to start thinking about college and work and all of these stupid "adult" (she spit that word out as if it were covered in venom) things." She pulled away from Nadia and sat on the floor by the window. Nadia joined her and looked at her sympathetically but still firmly. "I can't tell my parents, but I want to so much, just to spite them. Gosh how I want to tell them," Jade said. Nadia's expression changed to worry, and she shook her head 'no'.

"No, Jade. Don't do that. Your parents will yell and scream at you until the cows come home. Why would you do that? There's no good reason, and it's plain stupid to risk being screamed at and possibly punished just to make them angry." Jade groaned. She gave Nadia a look saying "Wish me luck", and Nadia gave her a look saying "You are foolish", and Jade got up and walked downstairs, leaf in hand, to face her parents.

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I hope you liked the chapter! Please review! If you do, I'll update faster. I promise! Unless I have schoolwork, that is. I am a sophomore in college and as those of you who are in college, you know how hard it is. 


	6. Ch 5: The Fight

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Peter Pan. Just Jade and co.

HOORAY!!! I GOT 5 MORE REVIEWS!!! Thank you, BRIdoubleP!!

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A NOTE TO YOU ALL - Jade's name used to be Amanda, for those of you who have read this story before and are confused.

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To my lovely reviewers:

**BRIdoubleP** - Haha thanks for the compliment. I can't say that I wrote him perfectly. In my mind, I did, but there are many ways to portray characters. This is Peter in my opinion. I hate it when people portray him as "an Apollo-esque stud," as blahblahblah put it. Thank you very much!!

**HarrySlytherinson** - Here's your updated chapter!

**Muromachi** - Hiya, Angus. Here's the update. Hope you like it. Thanks for reviewing my story. Haha, "the end makes you want to read more but you can't until you post the next chapter!" Well, it's here! Actually, it's before the last one you reviewed because the chapters got all mixed up so I had to delete them and upload them again. Yeah, sorry about that. But I have chapter 7 written and I'm going to post it as soon as the next ones I post get enough reviews. See you in school.

WARNING: Curses in this chapter. **This chapter is strictly pg-14 for cursing, unless those under 14 can handle it and won't be affected.**

**OK you people don't understand something. The reason I put so much of myself into the character of Jade is because I AM Jade!!! Hello?! She is ME. Well, a lot of her is me, anyway. Not all of her. Of course I'd put a lot of my traits into the character because she is based off of a mix of me and a friend and my original character for an anime series. **

**Again, Pirate, thank you for the lengthy review and, even though you were the first to complain about me putting too much of myself into Jade, IrethTasartir, thanks for your review, too. I don't mean to sound rude, but it's really annoying when people are oblivious. Why else would I put my traits as hers? If she wasn't me, I wouldn't give her my traits, personality, or looks, now would I? I didn't think so. Besides, who are you, Ireth? You don't even know me and you're saying that I put in too much of myself into Jade. No one can say that about anyone's character if they don't know them.**

**Another's note -Nadia is the real thing, in person, in the flesh (well not in the flesh…you know what I mean) in this story. She's not that mean in real life, I just had to make a conflict and needed my best friend in there. She is actually an n incredibly sweet and extremely nice girl, and one of the best friends anyone could have (she has three other sisters as I mentioned in the chapter before this one, one a year younger than her, one a year older, and the other 6 or 7 years older).**

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"But DAD!!– "

"NO! Not another word! I have tried to bring you up as an intelligent, proper young lady. I have allowed you to have your fun with your stupid fairy tales, have fun as a child while you could, I even took you to Disney World FIVE FING TIMES for Christ's sake!! Three when you were in your TEENS! I've been retired for ten years, as has your mother. Do YOU have a job? Do YOU bring any money into this house?!"

"Dad–"

"No! You don't! Ten years ago, we had enough money to let us live well for a number of years, I told you that then. A number of years have passed already and our money is running out because of you mostly! Your mother still shops but even she has cut down on that to save money but you don't! You could have helped out but you didn't! You could've gotten a job but you didn't! You sat on your fucking ass glued to the computer screen reading fan fiction stories about Peter Pan, Sailor Moon, and other stupid Japanese anime movies without doing your school work or helping out around the house and being lazy!!

"Dad!–"

"We don't have the money that we used to have and if you keep buying all these stupid manga books and anime videos and DVDs, we will soon be homeless!!" When Jade's father became angry, you didn't want to be anywhere near him. Now, he was more than angry. He was livid with his daughter, and his wife noticed this. She tried to calm him down, but it didn't seem to work, her not being able to have a say in this argument. She became worried that he was being too loud and the other people in the houses around theirs would listen.

"Vincent, not so loud, dear, you'll wake up Annette," she said soothingly. Estelle was Jade's 13 year old little sister. She had blonde hair that traveled to just below her shoulders in bouncy curls.

"You act like a small child and you're long overdue for maturing into a woman. I can't believe that you still act like this! You are an adult now and every other person your age already knows what college they want to go to and what their responsibilities are. They even have jobs! You are not a child anymore! You are worthless! You do nothing to help this family!" Jade couldn't believe what her father was saying. And her mother was doing nothing to stop him!

She was worthless? Is that what her parents really thought of her? She thought they loved her but all they were doing was criticizing her and scolding her for doing what she loved – acting like a kid and having fun. That didn't seem very fair. Now of course her parents didn't mean everything they called her. They didn't think she was worthless, and they loved her very much, but they couldn't stand watching her grow up in body but not in spirit. They wanted her to have a good education, and a good life ahead of her, but she refused to let them have their way.

Jade did not see it that way, and she thought that her parents really thought that she could do nothing and wasn't smart or mature in the least. She WAS mature! In a few ways, at least. She knew what was right and wrong, she knew better than to do something that might cause her or someone else great pain or danger; she had exceptional judgment.

"Let me speak–"

"I will not have this childish behavior in my house any longer! You are almost SEVENTEEN!"

"Dad!!"

"I've put up with your nonsense fairy tales and Peter Pan phase LONG ENOUGH! You will stop this Peter Pan business and you will become a proper young lady! It's time for you to GROW UP!!!"

"DAD!!!" Jade's scream shocked her parents, and caused them to be silent for a moment, just enough time for her to start talking without being interrupted. "I don't care what the hell you and mom think! So what if I'm worthless! So what if I'm not as smart and mature as you want me to be! I still know how to handle myself and I have good judgment! I can believe WHATEVER I want to believe and you have no control over that! You can't stop me from believing in Peter Pan! You aren't the one who woke up to a boy hovering over you and staring at you! You aren't the one who closed your window before you went to bed last night only to have it opened by a boy no older than fourteen dressed in animal hide knee-length pants covered in skeleton leaves!!

You aren't the one who followed the boy to the window after he was startled by you when you woke up, and found a single skeleton leaf from his clothes on the floor by the OPEN WINDOW!!! I don't care that you think I'm immature and act like a kid because I know that's true! But I am mature about certain things and when I know I need to be. I don't care!! I KNOW that Peter Pan is real because I saw him last night! Do you know how I know that?? Because I stayed up after he came because it was five in the morning and took a shower, then got ready for school.

I did NOT fall asleep after that! I STAYED AWAKE!! Doesn't that seem strange to you?! Especially because I didn't go back to sleep! No, I don't act mature most of the time and I don't act like a proper young lady because that's the EXACT thing I'm afraid of becoming! And that's the thing I want to avoid because I love having fun and staying young! I don't want to have responsibility after responsibility thrown onto my shoulders, grow old, develop wrinkles, and start to forget everything and lose my mind! Of course I will never stay young in body unless he comes for me, but I will ALWAYS stay young at heart! I know what I saw last night, and I KNOW that he will come back for me.

He will set me free from this hateful world and take me with him to Neverland where I will NEVER have to do anything anyone tells me! I will be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want, go to bed when I want, have no curfew, not be forced to follow any rules, not have any responsibilities except for making sure that the Lost Boys and Girls, when I gather some up, are safe, and ESPECIALLY no adults!!!! I am telling you this, and I am telling you NOW. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, I assure you that I WILL NEVER EVER GROW UP!!!!"

Jade's parents were fuming. Jade was crying, and she stormed out of the room, running upstairs and slamming her bedroom door. Both she and Nadia could hear her parents yelling downstairs.

Peter had listened to the entire argument between the girl called Nadia and the redhead who he wanted to take to Neverland just10 minutes before. He flew down to the place where they made food and heard her fight with her parents (which made him livid because of her parents but also extremely happy about what she said), then flew back up to her room and started listening to her and her friend again (the kitchen and her bedroom were on different floors but on the same side of the house, which made it easier because all he had to do was fly down, then back up again). 'Geez, that poor girl has it real bad. I feel bad for her, having to deal with stupid adults,' he thought to himself, and settled on the roof to the right of the window, peering in at the two girls.

"Jade, I TOLD you they wouldn't like it! You're not supposed to tell them things like this. They'll just get angry with you."

"I hate it when they're like this! Why can't they let me believe what I want to and leave me alone?! I wanted to tell them because I know they hate it when I say things like that, related to fairy tales and such, and I wanted to make them angry but I didn't know that they'd go totally berserk on me! I knew as well as you that they wouldn't take the news well and frankly, I don't give a damn. I don't care what they think, and I don't care what they say about me. I will not grow up and that's final."

"They're just jerks. If you don't want them to tell you not to believe, don't tell them that you do. And you can't HELP but grow up eventually."

"No, you're wrong. He IS real, I saw him! Why can't you just believe me? I have all the evidence you need!" Jade waved the single skeleton leaf in front of her for Nadia to see.

"That's not ALL of the evidence that I need! I don't want to be mean, but it's just a leaf! I mean, I want to believe this, too, to tell you the truth, but I just cant! Not until I see him with my own eyes," Nadia stated firmly. Jade brightened slightly.

"Then stay with me tonight. Sleep here, or if you can't because of your mom, then at least stay late. If he doesn't come, well, it's worth a try."

"Jade–"

"Please?"

"Fine, just to satisfy you, but don't be upset when nothing happens."

"Don't be so negative. Don't you want to stay young forever? Have a little faith, Nadia! That's what you lack. Faith, and also belief."

"Jade, you can't stay young forever, and no matter how much you want to, that's never going to happen."

"Peter Pan did. He doesn't grow any older," Jade said. She was becoming quite annoyed with her friend's lack of the ability to believe her. Not only that, but also her lack of imagination.

"And who has ever met peter pan?" Nadia asked.

"Wendy has. I never told you, but that woman was the real Wendy. Her last name was Gregors, yes, but that was her married name." Nadia let out an exasperated sigh.

"She was old. She might have been making up stories for all you know! Why are you so quick to believe her?"

"Because I trusted her. She told the best stories, and all of them flowed out of her mouth like water, never slowing or hesitating. She knew them all like the back of her hand, and I just felt like I could trust her and believe what she told me."

"But what if they were just that? STORIES! You could be putting yourself up for a huge disappointment, Jade, and then you'll feel like such a fool."

"I SAW him, Nadia!!! I'm telling you I saw him hovering over me!" Jade yelled, extremely ticked off now.

"If you really think that Wendy was THE Wendy Darling from the story…geez, her death must have upset you so much that you saw a hallucination of Peter Pan and instantly believed that Wendy was Wendy Darling. I'll see how tonight goes. I mean, I'll stay to see for sure, and I'd love it if it were real, but I just don't believe it," Nadia said. She wanted to make her friend happy, but also wanted to prove her wrong about Peter.

"You have no faith at all. You've given up on being a full-fledged child and you will grow up. Well not me. I haven't given up, and I'll be damned if I do," Jade said, determination in making her friend believe her.

"I have faith, but I also have common sense," Nadia shot back. Jade looked at her in slight horror and shock, then anger and sadness that Nadia would actually say such a thing.

"Why you…how DARE you say something so harsh and nasty like that! I can't believe you! Fine, you know what? Don't stay! See if I care! You're only doing it out of pity for me, anyway, so why bother?! I don't care about what you think anymore. You can grow old and wrinkly for all I care! Go on, grow up! But that is something that I will NEVER do!"

"You have no choice! I don't want to grow up, either (Peter brightened at this), but I have to (Peter's hopes fell). No one wants to, but they don't have a choice. It's a part of life, Jade. You have to deal with it and get the best out of it while you still can. I know that I want to be a great doctor and help other people and save lives. What about you? What happened to your huge dream of becoming a paleontologist and discovering new species of dinosaurs?"

"That's long gone, Nadia. Sure I still get excited when I see or hear about a bone or a whole skeleton being discovered, but I want more to just be a girl and have fun." Jade walked over to sit by the open window again. She kneeled on the floor, folded her arms on the windowsill, and rested her head on her arms, taking the pose she so often took every night for the past two or three months.

"So does everyone. It's pre-college doubts, is all. Everyone gets the jitters around this time."

"No, Nadia. I'm a junior, not a senior like you. I'm not going to college for another year, if, that is, Peter doesn't come. But he will…I'm not nervous about college, I just don't want to go! It's the next step towards growing up!" Jade sighed heavily.

"Oh Jade, stop it."

"I can't stand it anymore, Nadia. I hate it here. All that happens is I'm scolded for not doing things right, criticized for my intense liking of a so-called fairy tale and belief that it is real, and I am called worthless and immature. Well I don't care anymore. I know that Peter will come for me. If he doesn't, well, I don't know what will happen. I refuse to grow up anymore than I already am, and I can't cope with the fact that I will grow old and forget everything. I would probably eventually kill myself, and I'm not joking around. I know you think that I'm being selfish because everyone in the world wants to stay young but can't, but I'm different. I feel like…it's almost impossible for me to grow up; like my spirit won't allow me to or else I won't be able to live here in this world. I feel like it wants me to die young, not old. I feel that way, too. I would rather die young than an old woman struggling to remember her own child's name. I don't mean to sound selfish, but in all honesty, that's how I feel."

"That's silly. No one likes growing old." Nadia felt like she was a broken record continuously playing in Jade's head. She just couldn't get it, that she will grow up. "You're being stupid and pathetic. What you're saying doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Your spirit doesn't want you to grow up? Come on, Jade! Think about what you just said!"

"I know that, but I honestly feel like I'm different than other people. In Neverland, I can stay young forever. I know this sounds stupid to you and you probably think I'm in some state of insanity, that this whole "staying a child" business has gone to my head, but that's not true. It hasn't. I am going there, Nadia, and no one is going to stop me and order me about, telling me what to do. Once I go there, I'm not coming back here. Ever. I know he'll come for me, whether it be tonight, in a few days, or in a week, he will come, and I will go with him."

Peter grinned from ear to ear, and Tinkerbell gritted her tiny teeth, not ever wanting that to happen. Nadia sighed and stared at the back of her rebellious best friend. Jade was strong and determined, she'll give her that, and also stubborn as a bull (a pun on Jade's zodiac sign, Taurus). She couldn't believe what Jade had told her about her encounter with the strange eternal boy from the fairy tale. No, she didn't.

Not completely, at least. She thought that the tiny, miniscule part of her that was saying, "It might not have been a hallucination" was merely out of sympathy for her friend - but she had a feeling that Jade just might be right. No! Her mind screamed to her saying that this was silly and stupid. She didn't believe her. No, what Jade said couldn't have been real. Fairy tales don't come true.

"You won't go with him because he isn't real! What part of that don't you understand? I don't mean to be nasty to you, but you just don't get it. You're living in the past, and that's not good. You have to get past the past and into the present, then start thinking about the future.

Growing up is a part of life, Jade, and there's no stopping the process," Nadia said, using hand movements to emphasize the importance of what she was saying. Peter didn't like this girl. She was too negative, and accepted life like it was any other ordinary thing. She had already given in to its clutches.

"You're WRONG! Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it isn't real! I WILL go to Neverland, where there are pirates, Indians, mermaids, fairies, and most important of all, Peter Pan!" Peter proudly puffed out his chest. Tinkerbell smacked him on his shoulder. What good that did, though, her being so small.

"You hear that, Tink? She really does believe in us with all her heart and soul. We have to take her away," Peter said to his tiny fairy companion. Tinkerbell jingled a huffy reply. "Oh stop it, Tink, you're being rude. She's not like Wendy…she's totally different. She actually wants to stay a child. (more bells) So she isn't a child anymore, big deal. You'll make her one again. (Tinkerbell flew up into Peter's face and started frantically and angrily yelling at him which, to anyone else, would sound like a fury of tiny bells) Shh, Tinkerbell, she'll hear us!" Peter lightly swatted her away, and she flew across the window, stopping herself when she got to the other side. In the room, Jade jerked her head towards the window.

'What was that? I just saw something gold fly across the window. It was probably just a stupid firefly,' Jade thought.

"Jade! There are no such things! Mermaids aren't real, they're made up, there are no more pirates because they were wiped out, and there are especially no such things as FAIRisshh–!" She was cut off by Jade, who shot up when Nadia started to say the dreaded sentence that would have cost Tinkerbell her life, and slapped her hand on Nadia's mouth to stop her. She didn't use much force so she didn't hurt her, but just enough to shut her up.

"NEVER say that!! Ever! Every time someone says that, or anything having to do with fairies not existing, a fairy somewhere falls down dead!" Peter was about to rush in, but then he saw Jade do the work for him, and he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

'Thank God she did that,' he thought, 'or else poor Tink would be…' He shook the thought from his head and continued to eavesdrop. Tinkerbell sighed with relief and looked at Jade in a different way than before. She held a little more respect for the girl, though not a lot, but enough to make her stop saying bad things about her. For now, at least.

"Now you can stop saying rude things about her, Tink. She just saved your life. You should be grateful," Peter told Tinkerbell. She folded her arms across her chest and turned her back to him, but then she unfolded them and looked through the window at her savior. She will have to thank her later, but that didn't mean she was going to stop her antics. Her annoyance towards Peter's future action of bringing the redhead to Neverland would not leave her. She loved Peter with all her heart, and there was no way in hell that she would let another girl get so close to him. Especially after what happened with Wendy. Nadia pushed Jade's hand away from her mouth.

"Will you stop it with that?! You're acting like a two-year-old!" Nadia reprimanded.

"I'm serious! Once the first child laughed, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about. That was the beginning of fairies. They are real, Nadia, whether you believe it or not."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard but to satisfy you, fine. I won't say it. You are not going to Neverland; it's not real. But believe what you want to, if it makes you happy." Nadia didn't have that much strength left to argue with Jade anymore. Jade started shaking her head slowly from side to side.

"You've lost your child's spirit, that's your problem. You're just a…grown-up. You don't know how to have fun like a kid does. Sure, you love joking around and having fun, but not like you used to. I remember when you did, and we had so much fun together. We still do, but it's not the same as when we were kids. I want to always be able to laugh and play like one. I am going to Neverland, whether you or anyone else likes it or not, and that's final!"

"Jade, please listen to me! I don't want you to be upset, and I know that you are, but I want you to see the truth. All this talk of dying because your spirit wants you to stay young is so incredibly pathetic. I don't mean to offend you in any way, but in all honesty, it's so stupid. You thought the encounter with him was real when you woke up, but that was just the dream hanging around you, still. Also, you love and believe in Peter Pan so much that you truly thought it was the real thing. Remember, you were sleepwalking and woke up in the shower. How am I going to get you to understand that it wasn't real?" Nadia asked.

"That's NOT true! And I do NOT LOVE him!! I don't know of love! I have never heard of it!" Jade turned to Nadia at this, for she was getting extremely angry again. Nadia rolled her eyes at hearing the almost exact lines in the movie of Peter Pan that had come out a few months before.

"Oh stop quoting lines from the movie! Yes you have!"

"You are such a hypocrite! You said one, too!! About the so-called dream hanging around me!"

"What about Gavin? Huh? What ever happened to the extreme and true love you had for him? You said you truly loved him, Jade! You said that you even dreamed of marrying him and having a family with him–"

"STOOOP!!! STOP STOP STOP!! I don't love ANYONE!! Love is a grown-up emotion and I will NEVER feel it ever again! Yes, I DID love Gavin, but I can't any longer. Those kinds of emotions come with growing up, and I will not feel them! I do not feel them! Never never again! I don't know what love is. Just hearing it makes me shudder!"

"How can you not love when you have loved him for four years? Unless you were just saying that because you were so lonely, I highly doubt that you haven't felt it." Jade was shivering now at the amount of anger and desperation that had built up inside of her. Just then, a soft, quiet, and barely audible voice that only she could hear, being by the window after all, reached her ears from the night air behind her.

"You will grow young again and obtain the innocence of a child that you once had…" it said in a slow, entrancing tone.

"I will grow young again and obtain the innocence of a child that I once had," Jade repeated firmly.

"You will be too young to feel those grown-up emotions…you will be unable to love anyone in a romantic sense…" the voice stopped.

"I will be too young to feel those grown-up emotions. I will be unable to love!…wait a second!!" Jade's eyes widened. She turned sharply to face the window, stood up, pushed it open as far up as it would go, and stuck the top half of her body through it and leaned out, hands on the half-roof, searching for the source of the voice. Nadia looked at her in surprise, startled by her abrupt stop in the argument to turn around and look out of the window. Just above Jade on the actual roof of her house (not the half-roof) sat Peter and Tinkerbell in a silent battle. She most certainly did NOT approve of what Peter had just done.

"What's wrong?" Nadia asked.

"I…nothing."

"What is it? Tell me."

"No, it really was nothing. I thought I heard something, but it was just the wind, that's all. Besides, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, anyway," Jade said, the last line under her breath so Nadia wouldn't hear, though she did. Jade ducked back into the room and sat about two feet in front of her friend. Now that Jade was back inside, Tinkerbell let out her anger on our poor hero. She jingled madly, scolding Peter for almost getting them caught.

"What was that? What wouldn't I believe?" Nadia asked.

'Oh darn, she heard me,' Jade thought.

"Tink, cut it out. (Fury of bells) I don't care what you think about what I did, I did it and there's no changing that. I had to say that because I could feel her hope and spirit lowering. (more jingling) Stop being rude." Peter floated back down to his original spot by the window and ignored his fairy companion. She, however, was furious with him. How dare he ignore her! She'll see that he stays put while she screams at him this time. She flew down to him and darted around his face, yelling at him and saying rude things. This annoyed the boy immensely, and yet again he swatted the petite fairy to the other side of the window.

"What I thought it was. Forget it, Nadia. I'm not about to start up another yelling session. Besides, I don't believe it anymore. It was just the wind, nothing more." Jade turned her head sideways just in time to see a golden ball of light fly across the window again, and she squinted and looked as hard as she could to try to see what it was. The thing was…Nadia saw it, too.

It could have been Tinkerbell! She felt her insides soar, now extremely excited. But it could have also been a firefly. Her hopes plummeted. Jade turned her head back to Nadia. Another quiet commotion, much like the first, was going on outside, unnoticed by the girls.

"Come on, Tink! Stop that! (Furious jingling of bells) I know how careless I was, I'm sorry! (more angry jingling) I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that again but you were in my face! (furious jingling again) And I was ignoring you because you were screaming at me. Look, Tinkerbell, I don't care about what you think. You can't be so jealous all the time. Besides, you heard her say that she doesn't want to feel any grown-up emotions anymore. (more bells) Ok, ok, so I said that, but she did say that in her own words earlier. She has to come with us, or else she'll die! Didn't you hear her say that? (rude jingling) Tink, cut that out! She saved you, remember? Is this how you treat someone who saved your life? (annoyed, mumbled jingling) Shh, be quiet. Don't be rude."

"Jade…" Nadia started, "did you see that?"

"Yes…yes I did…"

The girls were silent. Jade made the first move, and started edging towards the window.

"Um…well, I'm going to go. It's getting late, and my mother will call me soon. I'll leave you be, good night," Nadia said.

"Wait, why are you leaving??"

'_Because I know he's here…but he's here for you, not me. I must grow up, I'm sorry…'_

"Because I just have to go. I will talk to you later, alright?"

"Okay…good night."

"Good night."

Nadia left, walked downstairs, and out the door.

A friendly breeze blew in from the window just then, making Jade's red hair swirl around her. The night was clear, save for a single dark cloud in the sky. One could say that it represented the loneliness, sadness, and anger the girl had felt all through the night, but that all might be about to change. The stars sparkled as though they were winking at the distraught girl. She sighed.

"Oh, Peter. I know that you're out there listening to me, I saw you hovering over me last night. I still have the leaf you dropped. I'm sorry about my friend. Not many people believe in you, anymore. I do, though, and I always have. Oh why won't you come for me?! It was you who told me what to say earlier, I know it…(she hesitated for a moment) Can…can I really become young again? Too young to love? Will I really lose the ability to love?"

"If you wish it."

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So how did you like it? Haha I'm sorry about the cliffhanger ending. Thanks for reading. Please review. Reviews do boost a writer's morale, and then they write better! (hint hint wink wink)Well, bye for now! 


	7. Ch 6: Finally, A Smile

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Peter Pan. The wonderful amazing imaginative fantastic phenomenal writer Mr. J.M. Barrie does. I just own Jade and co. **

**OKAY I have a few comments on the reviews I received.**

Love (anonymous) – I know that children feel love – EVERYone feels love. But not the type I'm talking about in my story. Children aren't capable of feeling that type of love because they are too young and immature, their feelings not fully developed. Also, this is a story. People can write anything they want in their own stories. Thank you for the review. I'm glad you like my story! Please keep reading.

BRIdoubleP – Haha you needn't worry, me hearty. I will keep writing. What was the dream you had that this story reminds you of?

Innout (anonymous reviewer) – What do you mean why do I have to write this for others? If you mean why people don't review, I believe I have explained why I want reviews. It makes an author happy that he or she knows people like his or her story(ies). I write it for others as well because I know what it feels like to not get as many reviews as you had hoped for. It gets you down, and you feel like you don't want to keep writing. As for my reviews, I deleted every chapter of this story because they got mixed up and rearranged. I kept the reviews I had, which was in the mid twenties (I had 7 chapters up then with no author's notes). The reason I had twenty-something reviews is because I wrote author's notes saying I wouldn't update if I didn't get any reviews because of the same reason I told you and everyone else, but then I deleted them when I updated my next chapter. To me, twenty-something reviews for 7 chapters is very little. Some people have stories with 7 chapters and they have 100 reviews. It's depressing. Anyway, I hope I cleared that up for you. Thanks for reviewing my story, and I'm glad you like it! PLEASE keep reviewing.

THIS IS FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO READ THIS WHO HAVE FRIENDS WHO LIKE PETER PAN. PLEASE encourage them to read this. I love reviews oh so very much!

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**Last time: **"…Can I really become younger? Will I really lose the ability to love?"

"If you wish it."

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Chapter 5

Jade gasped and jumped back, hitting her bottom on the floor, her eyes wide in shock at the sight she saw before her. There, clad in animal hide and skeleton leaves, golden hair, and bronze skin stood the ever-famous Peter Pan. Or rather, a reddening, upside-down Peter Pan. Only his upper body was showing. He turned so that he was right side up and flew into the room, landing lightly on the floor without making the slightest bit of a sound. He stood in his stance that everyone knows well – legs spread, fists on hips, and his famous cocky grin plastered onto his face. He also had an air of innocence floating around him that was impossible to go unnoticed.

To explain him in further detail, Peter Pan had wavy, messy, unruly hair of a golden sun kissed dirty-blonde color, and slightly darker at the roots. His eyes were the brightest of emeralds and had tiny golden flecks mingled with the green, which are what gave him that mysterious yet adventurous and mischievous look he so often wore. His skin was the color of a deep bronze, though not unnatural-looking, and he had the smell of earth (dirt, leaves, trees, flowers) mixed with a tiny bit of sweat, which together made a very good scent. It was also, like his hair, sun kissed, a gorgeous tan that any woman could only dream of having from endless days in the Neverland sun.

Lastly, his clothes were made of the finest, toughest deerskin on the island that was covered with skeleton leaves and one vine that slung over his right shoulder. Skeleton leaves come from the Skeleton tree, of which there is a whole forest on the island. These trees are the biggest trees in Neverland. Skeleton leaves are very interesting, not to mention strange, as well. The seeds of the tree are located inside the leaves so wherever a leaf ends up, a tree will grow with time. Skeleton trees are extinct on Earth, but in Neverland, they thrive.

The reason for this is long ago, when Skeleton trees still existed on Earth, a single leaf broke off of a branch and blew up towards the sky by an extremely strong gust of wind from a horrendous hurricane that was passing through the area. The wind pushed the small leaf up and up until it reached the Neverland star, where it was pushed through the barrier and landed on the island. There it grew into one tree, which grew up and deposited its leaves on the ground, which grew into more trees, and so it went on.

The boy's arrogant smile suddenly turned into a slight frown and his expression changed to one of slight confusion and curiosity.

"Is there something wrong with your face, lady?" Jade finally snapped back to attention and looked at him, clearly annoyed. How can this boy be so ignorant?

"No. Haven't you ever seen someone very surprised or in shock before?" she asked. Peter, sensing she could see his ignorance, stood taller. Of course he has!

"Sure I have! I've seen it many times on Hook's face whenever I defeat him!" He puffed out his chest proudly. Jade gasped.

"Hook?! Captain James Hook of the Jolly Roger?!! (Peter nodded) But I thought he was dead!!" Jade looked at him wide-eyed in shock.

"So did I…until he showed up in the bay of Raven's Town one day with most of his crew and a few new pirates on the Jolly Roger. It turns out that he ripped his way out of the crocodile with his hook and swam to shore. He made his way to Raven's Town, as did his crew, and boarded the Jolly Roger, which I sailed into the bay when I came back after dropping off Wendy, John, Michael, and the EX lost boys at Wendy's house." He said the last bit with increasing poison dripping from his words.

"Oh my…" Jade said.

He broke his stance, looking into her eyes. There was something there that was completely out of place. It should never be there. 'She still holds all of her youth, though not innocent, and she should be happy, but…I see grief and loneliness in her eyes. Poor girl. She and Wendy must have been good friends,' he thought.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Jade."

"Jade…" He seemed to be thinking about her name, and then started walking towards her. Jade saw the boy come out of his stance and he was, in turn, staring at her. He wouldn't take his eyes off of her, and when he started walking towards her, all she could do was sit there on the floor and do nothing.

She didn't know what else to do. Peter knelt in front of her, taking her chin gently in his right hand and lifting it slightly.

"Huh…?" she murmered. He stared into her pine green eyes a few seconds longer, and noticed that there were little specks of dark gray, almost bluish. They were beautiful eyes, ones that belonged to a person who was pure at heart, mischievous, and adventurous. Ones of a child, not a grown-up.

"So sad. You really liked Wendy, didn't you?" Jade frowned and swiveled her eyes to the left so that she was looking away from the boy's face, even though she could still see him out of the corner. Tears started to form and they threatened to spill down her cheeks, but no. She could not let him see her cry. She was strong, wasn't she? She doesn't cry in front of anyone but her closest friend, Nadia. That was a habit, you see. He took his hand off her chin.

Most people she won't let see her when she is upset about something, and since that has become almost second nature to her, she does it even to Nadia sometimes. Now she was doing it to Peter, a total stranger though also not one, but as she felt with Nadia, she didn't feel the actual _need_ to hide her feelings but this is a little different. This is someone she doesn't know well, so she tried to hide them, anyway. But Peter, being someone who observes everything, failed to miss them.

"Girl? Why are you crying?" That line. That famous line, only this time with 'girl' instead of 'boy'. Her eyes slowly made their way back to his face and her expression changed to a stronger one, one of bravery and strength, which happens to her whenever the "threat" of someone seeing her weak or crying comes up. She frowned and her eyebrows formed a V-shape. Peter took his hand away from her chin as Jade made herself slightly taller, though still sitting on the floor.

"I am not crying. (Proudly) I never cry." Peter smirked and raised his right eyebrow, tilting his head ever so slightly. "I don't," she confirmed. He righted his head.

"You certainly do have a proud spirit," he said. She smiled. Peter's face softened. "Ah, finally. A smile. Tears don't suit you." Jade gasped.

"You were spying on me!"

"I…NO! I wasn't spying! Not exactly…(He sighed and sat on the ground) Listen. I've been watching you for a long time – ever since I saw you leaning out of your window one night. You were staring at that star (he turns his upper body and points to the brightest star, then turns to face her again), the brightest one in the sky–"

"The North star, Polaris," she interrupted, though Peter wasn't annoyed.

"Yes, Polaris. That is Neverland, Jade." Jade gasped again, her eyes widening.

"I knew it! So I was right all along...I had a feeling that it was Neverland. So it IS true..."

"Yep. I was above you on the main roof and I heard you whisper something, and I had to come back. I came to see you a lot, you intrigued me so, but I had to come less and less, for I was growing with the amount of time I spend in this world. I heard your plea, but I couldn't bring myself to take you at first because Neverland only allows pure children…"

Jade looked hurt. How did he know? Oh, he's Peter Pan, the epitome of youth, the magical boy who was Neverland's ruler. Of course he knew. He can sense these things. Jade's heart wrenched. No! It wasn't fair! She HAD to go to Neverland. Peter was here! This couldn't happen to her, not after how far she has come. It wasn't her fault! IT WASN'T HER FAULT!!

Peter knew that the reason Jade wasn't pure in body was not her fault at all, but he had to warn her. He told her he wasn't sure that the island would let her through, but because of her immensely pure heart and spirit, it just might.

"It wasn't my fault...I was forced! No, NO Peter I HAVE to go with you! I can't stay here, I can't LIVE here. It's too much for me! I can't stand it, it's slowly killing me. I am going with you, even if Neverland's power rips me to pieces. I refuse to die old and grown-up."

"I know, sshh, it's ok, please don't cry, Jade. I know it wasn't your fault. Like I said, Neverland might let you through. In fact, I know there's a good chance because you have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met. But back to my story.

I didn't care about the fact that your body wasn't pure after a while. I kept coming, and I saw that you were still innocent and you weren't an adult. I must admit that when I first saw you I thought you _were_ one because no child looks the way you do, but I soon realized that it isn't always what's someone looks like, because you were such a child on the inside (Jade chuckled and flashed him a small, sad smile that showed promises of looking better). So, I finally made up my mind to take you away where you wanted to go for so long, and here I am."

Jade couldn't believe it. Here he was, the boy of her dreams, of her favorite story, which happened to not be a story at all. And he had been coming to see her all this time.

Then it hit her. It hit her like a cannon ball flying right at her at full speed. Peter was acting strangely...almost mature. She took a good look at him. He had clearly defined masculine features, a lean but muscular build...and then it hit her. Peter was...a teenager! That night in her room when she opened her eyes, she only glimpsed at him, thinking he was the same 14 year old boy in the stories. But then she remembered that she told someone...maybe Nadia, she forgot...that he looked no older than 14. But that was in the dark light of her room with an innocent and curious expression on the boy's face.

"Peter..." she breathed. "You're...you are older! I thought you were 14 years old, but you look so much older...Peter, kids start turning into adults and are able to love another in the romantic sense at the age of 14. Peter, you look no younger than 15 or 16! What happened?"

Peter sighed. He knew this was coming. He stood up and walked to the window, peering out into the inky darkness of the winter night, scanning the surrounding area for eavesdroppers. He sent out his senses that have grown over the many years he has lived on the island, and found only Jade and Tinkerbell, who was sitting outside on the roof on the other side of the window so Jade was not able to see her. He then shut the window and came back to sit in front of Jade again, his face becoming stern and serious. His eyes bore straight into hers so he would be able to detect any deception in her answer to his question.

"This is an EXTREMELY important issue, Jade. If the information I am about to give you gets into the wrong hands, Neverland can and will be destroyed if we are not quick enough to stop it. Do you swear on your very life, no, on your parents and friends' lives, that you will not mention this to ANYONE?" Jade nodded.

"I swear, Peter Pan. I will not tell anyone." Peter made a cross on his chest over his heart with his index (pointer) finger.

"For sure?" He asked. Jade made the same gesture Peter did, crossing her finger over her heart.

"For sure!" Peter's face relaxed, but not so much. He leaned back against the iron vines on the foot of Jade's bead and began.

"All right. I confess. My 'innocent ignorant little boy' personality is a mere act. Yes, I am innocent, as innocent as any child can be, but the way I portray that is an act. I love having fun, having adventures, everything the Peter Pan you know loves. Listen. Because I bring a new 'Wendy' every few years, I grow older because of all of the trips I take to earth. After about four 'Wendys', which is around 12 years your time, I look to be abound 16 years old. Then I have to go to the fairies, who take me to the heart of Neverland and, combining my powers, their powers, and Neverland's powers, they transform me into a 13 year old boy." Jade's eyes widened at this and she gasped. She has been doing that a lot recently...

"They make you younger? Every 12 years of earth's time? That is truly amazing..." Peter nodded.

"Yes, it is."

"So when you get back, you will have to go to the fairies to have that done to you again?"

"Yep." Jade tilted her head slightly, as if she was waiting for more to come out of the boy's mouth.

"And...?"

"And what?"

Jade sighed and put her right hand up to her head, shaking her head in exasperation. Then she looked up at him again.

"What about love? You wait until you are 16 to go through the transformation. You MUST be able to feel it," the red-head stated. She was sure he did. He had to have. No 16 year old - no 14 year old, even - cannot feel love. However, the eternal youth did not answer her with a nod, but a shake of his head, instead, his bronze highlighted dirty blonde and gold loose curls bouncing with the movement.

"Nope. I did the first couple of times I had to go through with it, but I got used to it. You see, The first couple of times, I was allowed to grow to the age of 13, then 14, and eventually 15 and 16. As time went on, I got used to the feeling and I blocked it out, unable to feel it even when I am as old (he shuddered) as I am now."

"Wow." The room went silent, and for a few moments before that silence was broken, Jade thought to herself. She had been waiting for so long for Peter to come, wishing with all her might and believing with all her heart. And he was here, now. Finally.

"I can't believe this…" she breathed slowly. "You have been watching me all this time…I have been waiting for you all this time...and now you're finally here." Her voice changed to a sterner one, though it still had a joking manner to it. "Well it took you long enough."

"Heh. Well, you know me, I hate adults and it took a while for me to realize that you weren't one."

"Then why did you keep coming back?"

"Because remember what I said. You intrigued me and I couldn't figure out during that time whether you were a child or an adult. Anyway, I listened to your stories about school (he spat that word out as if it was covered in venom) to your friends on something you call a seal fon…foan…"

"Phone. Cell phone," she corrected.

"Ahh…yeah, phone (he didn't like being corrected). I never thought that ANYone could think that school was fun, or…interesting." Jade looked amused.

"Oh, Peter! The work isn't the part that's fun! It's being with your friends, talking to them about current news, their lives at the moment, funny things that happened to them, gossip about other people in the school who we don't like – just having a good time with them," Jade explained.

"What's gossip?" Peter asked.

"Gossip is talk about someone you don't like or something about someone else that's funny…it's hard to explain. The gossip is what you liked listening to," she explained.

"I also loved listening to the story about me that you told to a small child not too long ago. You were watching him for his mother and father." Peter was referring to the 8-year-old boy, Rhoads, who Jade babysat two weeks ago. "You got most of the story right, but you missed some important facts. Hook, the pirates, the Indians, and the lost boys were fine but Neverland has many more details and things about it you didn't add in. Take Raven's Town for example. It seems you didn't know a thing about it and by your expression when I first told you about it, you've never heard of it." Peter smirked. Jade had to admit, she didn't know anything about it, but she had seen it in the movie "Hook".

"I have heard of it, but because it was in a movie of a grown-up you who's children were captured by Hook and brought to Neverland where you went after them to save them, I thought that it wasn't real. Besides, it isn't in the stories I like about you. Though it would be interesting to see it," she answered. She noticed the look of pure anger molding itself onto Peter's boyish face, and was surprised. "P…Peter? What's wrong?" Peter was clenching his fists now.

"I will NEVER grow up! How DARE they think of me as doing such a crime!" Jade quickly slapped her hand on his mouth (it didn't hurt).

"Shhhh!!! You stupid fool, do you want to bring my parents up here?!" she hissed in a rushed whisper. Peter's eyes softened and she took her hand away and sat back in the same position she was in before Peter's outburst.

"Sorry. But I will never grow up!" said Peter in a lower voice. Jade shook her head and chuckled softly.

"No, you won't. And neither will I." Peter smiled. "So what is Raven's Town like?" she asked. Peter used hand motions as he described the dreaded pirate town as best he could.

"Well, it's the pirate town where all the pirates live and do whatever they do. It's located on the eastern coast of Neverland, right around the bend of the Jolly Roger! It has houses, buildings with rooms that have many people, all different kinds of shops, and the most common, bars. All over! (His arms formed semi-circles from in front of him around to his sides) The people who live there are nasty. All they do is drink and if anyone outside of their "clan" like a Lost Boy or an Indian ventures anywhere near their boundaries, they kidnap them and torture them, sometimes even kill them!" Jade gasped in horror.

"Oh my gosh! That's horrible!" she exclaimed. Peter nodded.

"Yeah, I know. But I always save them before they're killed." He puffed out his chest slightly and Jade chuckled.

"Peter, what's Neverland really like? What did I miss?" she asked. An adventurous look sparkled in his eyes and he flew to the iron design on the foot of Jade's bed, standing on it.

"Oh you left out a LOT."

"What? Would you tell me?"

"Well, all right. It is a sanctuary for all children who never want to grow. It is a place where dreams are born, and where time is NEVER planned. It is a beautiful island full of thousands of different types of plants, trees, and animals in the middle of a sparkling, clear, unending field of blue ocean. There are caves, valleys, mountains with tops covered in pure white snow, ponds, rivers, a lake, water holes with waterfalls, and springs, cold and hot," he explained. Jade gasped in gleeful surprise and leaned about an inch towards Peter.

"Hot springs?!" came Jade's squeal of delight. Peter nodded, grinning

"Aye, hot springs! There are also tall trees, the tallest, as I told you, being the Skeleton trees, meadows, flowers, and bushes. There are so many places to have fun, play games, and cause mischief, there is never a day when you don't have fun. There's Pirate's cove where the Jolly Roger spends most of its time and where I torture the ol' codfish, Shark's Bay, another place the Jolly Roger spends its time, the Black Castle, the Syrinx River, Mermaid's Lagoon, the Coral Lagoon, the Indian encampment, Unicorn valley, and so many more. My favorite places to hide Hook's treasure are Marauder's Rock, Skull Rock, and Ice Queen's Cave." Jade could only stare at him in awe; she was practically jumping out of her skin in her excitement.

"What creatures are there?" Jade asked. Peter laughed at her curiosity and flew off of the iron vines of her bed and onto the floor, not making a sound. He sat down in front of her, Indian-style.

"I will tell you a few, but not all. If I did, that would bring the fun out of the surprise you get when you see something magical and mythical that you never before believed was real. The most sacred creatures in Neverland I will save for when we get there. There are water ymphs, earth nymphs, fire nymphs, wind nymphs, the real elves that look like people with long ears and have powers, not the tiny things you know of that run around causing trouble, though they mostly keep to themselves and only come out when we need their help, gnomes, and sea creatures.

There is never a day without an adventure. You are going to love Neverland, Jade. We have so much fun, but we get lonely sometimes, even though we have each other. We need someone like you to tell us stories and go on adventures with us–"

"WHOA SLOW down! I don't tell stories. And we?! What do you mean, we??" Jade interrupted.

"Why me and the Lost Boys, of course. No stories? (he shrugged) Oh well. We'll find a new mother sooner or later." Jade looked at Peter in confusion. Weren't the Lost Boys grown up?

"The…Lost Boys?? Didn't Wendy take them home with her to grow up?" she asked. Peter's eyes took on a dark, angry look.

"The first ones did, the TRAITORS!" He spat the last word out as if it were covered in venom. "But I recruited new ones. Two came back with me one week later. It seems that the life of a mortal growing up did not match that of an immortal eternal boy. Nibs, my battle planner, and Slightly, my second in command. I saved them from a nasty life of growing up!" Peter's chest swelled with pride again for being the hero. "They got cold feet at the last minute and saw that they couldn't ever fit in with the people in Lobin. …Lugon…Lontam…Argh!!"

"London?" Jade said with a smirk. Peter rolled his eyes.

"Oh whatever!" He saved his two most valuable friends, and that was all that mattered at the moment. He saved those two, and he was determined to save Jade from her own miserable life filled with work, responsibilities, and the dreaded species called grown-ups. Jade sighed.

"It must be so amazing to live in Neverland." Peter flashed her a mischievous grin and jumped down from the iron on Jade's bed, landing lightly on his feet and kneeling in front of her again. He had jumped back onto the iron in his excitement of explaining how Jade would join them and tell them stories.

"You need not wonder. All you have to do is wish it, and it will happen." Jade looked at him with hopeful eyes and saw that his face held seriousness along with the permanent mischief and happiness, and she felt a wave of calmness wash over her.

"I do. I do wish to live in Neverland and stay young forever."

* * *

-

* * *

-

* * *

This chapter was 12 pages long!! And 6,700-something words!! O.O So I had to cut it in half. Please excuse the abrupt ending. 


	8. Ch 7: Defying Gravity

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Peter or Hook or any other character you recognize. I own Amanda and co.**

**PLEASE READ **

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**If I take a while to update from now on, I'm sorry. I had this story up a while ago but for some reason, the chapters were mixed up and I had to delete them. I didn't delete the story, just the chapters, therefore my story kept the old reviews, which is why new readers think I am greedy. I am not, I assure you. I re-posted the chapters, one every 4-7 days depending on the reviews I received. I have finally posted the last of them, Chapter 6 – Finally, A Smile, and this one you are about to read is Chapter 7 – Defying Gravity. I am currently writing chapter 8, so this may take a little longer to update than the others. I am a senior in high school, and it is extremely hard to keep up with everything. I will try my best, though. I promise. Enjoy!**

**_WARNING! WARNING! RAPE SCENE AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!_**

**Chapter 7: Defying Gravity ****

* * *

**

**GLINDA  
**_(spoken)_ Elphaba, why couldn't you have just stayed calm for once, instead of flying off the handle!  
I hope you're happy!  
_(sung)_ I hope you're happy now!  
I hope you're happy that you've hurt your cause forever,  
I hope you think you're clever!

**ELPHABA  
**_(spoken)_ I hope YOU'RE happy!  
_(sung)_ I hope you're happy, too!  
I hope you're proud how you would grovel in submission,  
To feed your own ambition!

**BOTH  
**I hope you're happy in the end!  
I hope you're happy, my friend.

**GLINDA  
**_(spoken)_ Elphie, just say you're sorry.  
_(sung)_ You can still be with the Wizard!  
What you've worked and waited for!  
You can have all you ever wanted.

**ELPHABA  
**_(spoken)_ I know. _(sung)_ But I don't want it!  
No. I can't want it, anymore. (Amanda starts singing along)

Something has changed within me;  
Something is not the same.  
I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game!

Too late for second guessing.  
Too late to go back to sleep!  
It's time to trust my instincts,  
close my eyes – and leap!

It's time to try defying gravity!  
I think I'll try defying gravity,  
and you can't pull me down!_ (Amanda stops singing)_

**GLINDA  
**Can't I make you understand?  
You're having delusions of grandeur!

**ELPHABA  
**I'm through accepting limits,  
'cause someone says they're so.  
Some things I cannot change,  
but till I try, I'll never know!

Too long I've been afraid of  
losing love I guess I've lost!  
Well, if that's love,  
it comes at much too high a cost!

I'd sooner buy defying gravity.  
Kiss me goodbye,  
I'm defying gravity,  
And you can't pull me down.

_(spoken)_ Glinda, come with me. Think of what we could  
do, together.

_(sung)_ Unlimited.  
Together we're unlimited!  
Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been, Glinda!  
Dreams the way we planned 'em –

**GLINDA  
**If we work intendum!

**BOTH  
**There's no fight we cannot win!  
Just you and I defying gravity!  
With you and I defying gravity,

**ELPHABA  
**They'll never bring us down!  
_(spoken)_ Well, are you coming?

_(moment of silence)_

**GLINDA  
**I hope you're happy,  
Now that you're choosing this.

**ELPHABA  
**_(spoken)_ Me too.  
_(sung)_ I hope it brings you bliss.

**BOTH  
**I really hope you get it,  
And you don't live to regret it!  
I hope you're happy in the end!  
I hope you're happy, my friend.

_(music gets progressively louder really fast)_

**ELPHABA  
**_(sung loud)_ So if you care to find me,  
LOOK to the western sky!

_(Amanda sings northern sky because the North Star, or Neverland, is in the North. She sings the next two lines of the song)_

As someone told me lately,  
EVERYone deserves the chance to FLY!

_(Peter told Amanda this)_

And if I'm flying solo,  
At least I'm flying free!  
To those who'd ground me,  
take a message back from me!

Tell them how I am defying gravity.  
I'm flying high, defying gravity,  
and soon I'll match them in renown.

And nobody in all of Oz,  
No WIZARD that there is or was,  
Is ever gonna bring ME DOWN! –

_(The angry townspeople burst into the room and see Elphaba in her black cloak and witch hat and broom rising above them like the witch they thought she was and made her from their behavior and beliefs)_

**GLINDA  
**I hope you're happy!

**CITIZENS OF OZ  
**Look at her, she's wicked!  
_(yelled)_ GET HER!

**ELPHABA  
**Bring ME down!

**CITIZENS OF OZ  
**No one mourns the wicked,  
So we've got to bring her –

**ELPHABA  
**_(lets out a yell – it's part of her song)_ ohhOHHohhOHHAhhhhh!

**CITIZENS OF OZ  
**DOWN!

**AMANDA** sighed as she pressed the repeat button on her radio CD player, starting the song again. That song, "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway musical Wicked, was truly perfect for the moment, and summarized her well for what she was feeling. She did feel different, also as if nothing was going to stop her from flying off to Neverland. No, she would make sure nothing did. Nothing would stand in her way. She would fly off with Peter, leaving her troubles and responsibilities behind, her mind and shoulders free of the load.

It was 3:00 in the afternoon, and her parents were in the city. Nothing new. They were always in the city. Amanda sometimes felt that they didn't spend enough time at their true home, and she missed them. Well not anymore, because she would leave them forever, say goodbye one last time. A single tear ran down her cheek. She chose this day to remember everything worth remembering that happened to her during the seventeen years of her life. There were many fond memories of friends and family, and ones not so fond. One of those not so fond memories was of her best friend at the time, Allison Miller.

* * *

FLASHBACK

_Amanda was in 3rd grade, Allison in 5th. Allison was the only nice person to Amanda while they were in Portledge school, a private school where most of the kids were nasty as all get-out, stuck up, and conceited and arrogant. She had not one friend, save for Al. Al would smile at her, give her encouragement, and go to her house and hang out with her all the time. She never let Amanda down, and that was reciprocated. They were best friends, inseparable. Amanda did not know what she would do if anything ever happened to Allison, that also being mutual. _

_A couple of days after Christmas, when Amanda and Allison were in grades 5th and 7th, a letter was sent to everyone's homes saying that two tragedies occurred during the past week – the deaths of two students, one in middle school and the other in high school. The one in high school died in a car crash. His name did not matter to Amanda as she read the letter. Her face paled to a shocking shade of off-white when she read the name of the middle-schooler who died of an aneurysm – it was Allison Miller. Amanda sobbed, and her hands started to shake. An aneurysm is a sort of bubble in a vein in your brain that pops or gets too big and clots. It's almost undetectable, and results in the death of the affected person in a matter of minutes. What a horrible death – the worst migraine you could imagine, and then you are dead. Multiple tears sprouted from the redhead's eyes and flowed freely down her pale cheeks, uncontrollable. Her death was seven years ago on December 24, 1997 – Christmas Eve. Allison did not even get to experience her last Christmas. _

_Amanda did not talk for weeks. When the school had a sort of short memorial service for the deceased students, on the way there walking across the soccer field was the lower school, Amanda had her head down, refusing to cry in front of all these people. One boy, Oliver Williams, was talking to a bunch of boys behind her. He said he was glad Allison died. She was on his bus, and he hated her. Amanda's eyes flashed a dangerous crimson – which happens when she becomes extremely angry – and she whirled around and slapped Oliver right across his left cheek. The teacher did not stop this or punish Amanda, for she had heard what the boy said and was about to intervene when Amanda beat her to it. All she did was give Oliver a death glare promising he would be in trouble later, and separated the two._

END FLASHBACK

* * *

Amanda had tears running freely down her cheeks again, the memory fresh in her mind. She would never forget Allison, not even in Neverland. She swore. Since she was on the subject of painful memories, a horrid one forced itself out of the dark recesses of her mind where she had laid it to rest, not thinking it would come up again. It was four years after Allison died.

* * *

FLASHBACK

_June 18, 2002_

_Amanda was walking down the streets of Manhattan to her parents' apartment. She passed the Natural History Museum, her favorite place to go and relax, staring at the prehistoric fossils and imagining the world as is was hundreds of millions of years ago, in the time of the dinosaurs. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her right arm roughly as she started to walk past a dark alley, pulling her far in so fast that she did not have time to scream. She gasped and yelped, prying herself loose using the ninjitsu (the martial art of the ninja) she was taught, and performed a roundhouse kick to his face. _

_She started running out of the alley but couldn't see well, even with the lights around her; it was dark, around 6:00 at night. The man ran after her. Suddenly, she felt a sharp overwhelming pain as the man slashed the back of her right arm, crying out. He grabbed her around her middle and the knife was placed at her throat, the man holding it threatening to slit the flawless skin open if she so much as uttered a peep. _

_He pulled her further into the alley where it was so dark, no passers-by could see them. He pushed her to the ground and roughly pushed away her clothes, still fully aware of the knife in his hand which lay on the floor, but ready for her if she screamed. She lay there, helpless, her shirt and bra pulled over her breasts up to her neckline and her jeans and underwear pulled down, tears streaming down her face to her ears since she was lying down. _

_The man reeked of beer, sweat, and grime, almost forcing Amanda to retch and empty the contents of her breakfast and lunch onto the concrete. She gasped loudly when she felt him enter her none too gently, more tears springing from her now dull eyes. It hurt, like nothing she had ever felt before. When he was done with her, he grabbed her right breast one more time and kissed her roughly, then he got up and left her lying there on the cold ground, bleeding slightly in her lower region and feeling dirty. She was raped, her virginity and a piece of her pride stolen from her. She never told her parents in fear of the man someday coming after her._

END FLASHBACK

* * *

Amanda's eyes shot open as she shuddered, a sudden wave of fear gripping her like a second skin. This was why she was so scared when Peter came into her room last night. She was frightened that he would turn and leave her to this world of nasty people and responsibilities because she was not completely innocent, even if it was not her fault, even if it had been stolen from her. She decided, though, that if Peter thought it was all right, Neverland would as well. She looked at the clock and noted that it was 7:00 in the evening. She must have fallen asleep and the memory took over her mind and transformed itself into a nightmare, waking her when it was over. She went to lie down on her soft bed, deciding that some more sleep would do her good. She had already packed the things she would need, plus some clothes, of course. Now all she had to do was wait.

* * *

_

* * *

_

Neverland after Peter's visit with Amanda

**PETER** was sitting on his bed in his cabin in the trees, fingering the watch and rolling it around in his calloused hands. It truly was an amazing thing, the watch. Watch. What a peculiar name. Watch. Peter tried it out.

"Watch. Uatch. Watch…" It sounded and felt exactly like the verb, though he did not know what parts of speech were. "Watch…watch out, watch this, watch me, watch him, watch them, watch it, watch…time. Time to go, time to eat, time to fight, time to sleep…a WATCH tells the TIME of day or night." Peter scratched his head. Words were very confusing. He picked up the small piece of paper that he had placed on his bed next to him with his free hand, looking at the strange symbols. They looked like this: 9:30. Then he remembered the redhead's words. "Nine thirty," Peter repeated. What did it mean? She had told him not to come during the day but at night, when it was dark. She told him there were two times during one full day when each number was shown twice. Each number repeated once – once during the daylight and once during the night, but some of them varied because of the seasons. He was very confused by the concept and how it worked, but he understood the basics.

Peter closed his eyes shook his head, putting the two in his pouch when he opened his eyes. It was late – around 12:00 am, the east coast of America's time, the start of the approaching morning. Peter was tired, for he had been awake almost all night. He laiddown on his bed of animal furs and fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

_

* * *

_

The Jolly Roger – afternoon, the day after Peter came back

**CAPTAIN** James Hook smiled a wicked smile. Tonight was the night he would sail out of Neverland to the modern world and kidnap the girl who had intrigued him so much. He knew she would be the perfect weapon to use against the flying menace. He had followed her above the clouds to her home, so he knew where she lived. This plan would work. It was foolproof. He did not know, however, that the same flying menace was going to fly to the same house to retrieve the same girl and bring her back to the same place as he himself was, though for a different reason.

"I'll have you dead yet, Peter Pan, if it's the last thing I do."

* * *

IT was 8:10 pm. Amanda opened her eyes and saw these red digital numbers on the small black electronic alien in front of her face. She had fallen asleep again. Shit. She still had to finish packing. BleblEEP Great. Just what she needed. Another distraction. Once she started talking to the person who sent her an instant message on AIM, she knew it would be hard to say she couldn't talk. She sat up, slid off her bed, and made her way to the computer, turning the screen on and signing on to her account (she had Windows XP). Her eyes widened and her head jerked back a little when she saw how many IM's (instant messages) she received. Oh just her luck. Most were from Nadia – 17 out of the 20.

**Chiriko77 (4:02:29 PM):** hi

**Chiriko77 (4:06:40 PM):** Amanda are u there?

**Chiriko77 (4:07:01 PM):** Amanda? hello?

**Chiriko77 (4:10:23 PM):** Amanda, i know ur home. u wouldn't leave after what happened last night. please answer me. i need to talk to u.

**Chiriko77 (4:17:05 PM)** Amanda, for God's sake! answer me! this is important!

**Autoresponse from Odango Atama135 (4:17:05 PM):** I'm not near the comp or I'm not answering. Pick one. If you're someone who doesn't trust me enough to believe what I tell you, then you should pick the latter.

_(**AUTHOR'S NOTE – for those of you who don't know what 'the latter' means, it is the last choice you give in a sentence. Amanda meant Nadia as the 'someone' who didn't believe her and that Nadia should choose the 'latter', meaning the second of the two choices she gave in her first sentence – "…or I'm not answering." She is telling Nadia, who knows she is the person Amanda is talking about, to think that she's not talking because she is angry with Nadia for not believing her about Peter Pan. I hope I cleared that up)**_

**Chiriko77 (4:33:18 PM):** sighs how am i supposed to believe you? honestly tell me how. would you believe me if that happened to me and i told you about it? i dunno, Amanda. i don't think so. As much as i would have loved to believe you, i just couldn't. I have to go. I'll be back. I hope to see a message from you.

**Chiriko77 (7:19:47 PM):** im back. why won't you answer me? are you really that pissed? look, i'm sorry, but u have to be rational and reasonbale and try to understand that for few peolpe, it's hard, some, amlost impossible, and for most, completely impossible for them to believe something liek that. its a BOOK, Amanda. u cant possibly think that just becuase it happened to u, everyones gonna believe u.

**Chiriko77 (7:19:50 PM):** reasonable people almost like because

**Chiriko77 (7:19:53 PM):** Sorry. I was typing fast.

**Chiriko77 (7:35:06 PM):** DAMNIT, Amanda! answer me!

**Chiriko77 (7:40:47 PM):** im sorry i didn't believe you, but think about what i said earlier.

**Chiriko77 (7:46:13 PM):** Amanda, sighs look. i will tell you this much. last night, when we were arguin (dun wanna say fighting), i saw a ball of light fly across the bottom of the window outside. i had no idea what it was, but i know you noticed it, too.

**Chiriko77 (7:49:58 PM):** what im tryin to say is i dunno what to beleive now. I need to talk to you about last night.

**Chiriko77 (7:50:01 PM):** believe

**Chiriko77 (7:55:07 PM):** its urgent, Amanda.

**Chiriko77 signed off at 8:00:39 PM.**

**Chiriko77 signed on at 8:09:21 PM.**

**Chiriko77 (8:15:38 PM):** Amanda, PLEASE TALK TO ME

**Chiriko77 (8:53:23 PM):** sighs All right. Fine. I know you don't want to talk to me, so I'll leave you alone, but not without leaving one last message. I saw something else last night. I HAVE to tell you something urgent, but I wont say it when you cant see it right away and respond. I need to tell you what I saw last night. Amanda, you are one of my best and closest friends. I would not lie to you, and I am sorry I didnt believe you. its just hard. Im sorry I made you angry. I dont want to lose you, but it looks like I have no choice. And…I wanted to talk to you before you left.

* * *

Amanda's face remained cold, even as she read Nadia's last IM. When she read the last two sentences, she responded.

* * *

**Odango Atama135 (8:54:56 PM): **Come over.

* * *

**AMANDA** walked downstairs at 9:01 when the bell rang and opened the door for Nadia. At seeing her best friend, her cold expression would not hold. She smiled sadly and hugged Nadia, the other girl doing the same. 

"You silly ass. I was asleep." She and Nadia walked upstairs.

"Well that explains the sudden absence," Nadia replied. They walked into Amanda's room and sat on the bed. It was clean, the room, because Amanda had pushed her duffel bag under the bed, though she knew Nadia knew what was going on and what was going to happen. The radio/CD player was playing the song "For Good" from the Broadway musical Wicked.

* * *

**ELPHABA  
**_I'm limited.  
(spoken) Just look at me. (sung) I'm limited!  
And just look at you,  
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda…  
So now it's up to you!  
(spoken) For both of us.  
(sung) Now it's up to you…_

_('you' trails off)_

_

* * *

_

"How…did you know?" Amanda asked, her voice quiet.

"About tonight?" Amanda nodded. "That's what I wanted to tell you." Amanda's eyebrows raised and her eyes widened slightly as if saying, 'Yes? Well go on.'

"Well? What happened? It had to have been something amazing for you to change your mind, and so quickly as an added bonus." Nadia looked hurt.

"I understand that you're angry, but please, try to spare me." Amanda growled at Nadia, but relented and turned her head away. How she was able to produce a growl so real, Nadia could never understand. It didn't even sound like it was forced – like it was natural. "Amanda, I saw him last night." This caught the redhead's attention. She whirled her head around to face her Indian friend, her long ponytail swirling around her to lie on her back.

"You what?" she whispered. "What else did you see?"

* * *

**GLINDA**  
_I've heard it said  
That people come into our lives for a reason  
Bringing something we must learn._

* * *

"The whole thing. Flying out of your window, you falling, him catching you, your banter back and forth, both trying to win the argument of who's fault it was when you fell.

* * *

_And we are led  
To those who help us most to grow  
If we let them,  
And we help them in return._

_Well, I don't know if I believe that's true,  
But I know I'm who I am today  
Because I knew you._

* * *

Then he let go and caught you again, and then you flew back to your room. When he left, I saw a shooting star collide with Polaris. I assumed that was him, and then I left." Amanda was shocked. Why hadn't she gone home? 

"Why were you still there? I thought you went home."

"I did, but I came back because I wanted to talk to you, to clear this up," Nadia explained.

"Oh," was all Amanda could say. A comfortable silence shifted between the girls, neither one wanting to be the one to break it. The song was soothing to the duo. It was a sad song, but the sound and the voices of Idina Menzel (Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda) were beautiful, and it wasn't new to them. They had listened to it a few months ago, the night before Nadia went off to Stanford University in California.

* * *

_Like a comet pulled from orbit  
As it passes a sun.  
Like a stream that meets a boulder  
Halfway through the wood._

* * *

Oh gods, that was hard.

* * *

_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But – because I knew you,  
I have been changed for good._

* * *

They were in each other's arms, crying softly and letting the words of the song seep into their heads. They decided to not say anything to each other for a little while, a mutual silent agreement.

* * *

**ELPHABA  
**_It well may be  
That we will never meet again  
In this lifetime,  
So let me say before we part –_

_So much of me  
Is made of what I learned from you;  
You'll be with me  
Like a handprint on my heart_

_And now whatever way our stories end,  
I know you have re-written mine  
By being my friend!_

_Like a ship blown from its mooring  
By a wind off the sea.  
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird  
In a distant wood.  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But – because I knew you...

* * *

_

"When is he coming?" Nadia asked softly into Amanda's hair; they had embraced each other at some point during Elphaba's long solo. It was now 9:12. The girls moved away from each other and Amanda turned her head towards the closed window. It was winter, after all, and she most certainly did not want to catch a cold only to be sick when she arrived in Neverland. She walked over to the window and slid it open as far up as it would go.

* * *

**GLINDA  
**_Because I knew you…_

**BOTH**  
_I have been changed for good_

**ELPHABA**  
_And just to clear the air,  
I ask forgiveness  
For the things I've done you blame me for.

* * *

_

"Soon."

"Amanda, are you sure about this?" Nadia knew what her friend's answer would be, for she never changed her mind once it was set, but she felt she needed to ask her anyway.

"Yes." Nadia's expression turned to one of immense sadness that Amanda could not see. But you see, these two girls were so much alike. She also failed to see that very same look upon the redhead's angelic face.

* * *

**GLINDA**  
_But then, I guess we know  
There's blame to share_.

**BOTH**  
_And none of it seems to matter anymore!

* * *

_

"I'll miss you. So much." Nadia choked back a sob, but Amanda, like Peter, was not one to miss things easily. She turned around, a spark of delight, adventure, and hope on her face.

"Come with me."

* * *

**GLINDA ELPHABA**  
_Like a comet pulled Like a ship blown  
From orbit Off it's mooring  
As it passes a sun.By a wind off the sea.  
Like astream that meets a boulder, Like a seed dropped by  
__halfway through the wood. __A bird in the wood!

* * *

_

"I can't, Amanda. You _know_ that. I have responsibilities here, and I can't fly," Nadia answered. Amanda walked over to the Indian girl, took the girl's brown hand with her own, and gently pulled, telling her to stand up. When Nadia did so, Amanda kept pulling her.

* * *

**BOTH**  
_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
I do believe I have been changed for the better._

**GLINDA**  
_And… (pause) because I knew you –

* * *

_

"I'll teach you. And Peter will teach us to ride the wind's back, and away we'll go." Nadia took her hand out of Amanda's and backed up, knowing where this was going.

* * *

**ELPHABA**  
_beCAUSE I knew you –_

_('cause' in 'because' is sung louder than the rest)

* * *

_

"Amanda, I just told you I can't! I have to grow up. I have to take care of myself, I can't stand the thought of worrying my family and making they depressed and grief-stricken, I'm in COLLEGE, for heaven's sake. Amanda!"

* * *

**BOTH  
**I have been chaaaaayyayyaaanged,  
For good.

_(END of song)

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_

"Forget it all. Forget the responsibilities, the tasks you feel you must perform, the goals you feel you need to accomplish. Forget grown-ups, forget the concept and thought of growing up. We both know that you wish you could do this more than anything – you've just grown up faster than I have." Nadia thought Amanda was being ridiculous. Why would she want that?

'Because I don't want to grow up…'

"You know, you're right. I did grow up faster than you. You may feel horrible for what you are going to do to your friends and family, but you don't feel the need to stay with them and protect them from that grief. I do. I can't go with you, I'm sorry." Nadia's instincts were on overdrive. They were telling her to go while she had the chance, but she didn't want to. She had a dream and wanted to pursue it. Amanda did as well, but her want to live forever as a girl who constantly had fun and stayed young took over.

Nadia had spaced out for a moment, and she realized that there was a hand near her face with a small mound of glittery, soft-looking dust in the center of the palm. It was gold with multi-colored specks mixed in.

"What is that?" Nadia couldn't help asking. Amanda smirked playfully, blew the dust at the other girl's face, and turned her around so that she was facing the window, the star of Neverland twinkling in the never ending blue-black sky. Amanda was standing behind Nadia now, leaning close to whisper into her left ear.

"Forget them, Nadia. Forget them all. Come with me where you'll never, NEVER have to worry about grown-up things again." Nadia sighed.

"That's a long time." Amanda nodded, now facing Nadia.

"Aye, an awfully long time. Think of a happy thought, Nadia. Any happy little thought." Nadia thought that this was a silly request, for she had obviously forgotten that this was the main ingredient for flying in her journey to adulthood, but she complied and closed her eyes.

"Open your eyes," came Amanda's gentle command. Nadia opened her eyes and saw that she and Amanda were floating up. Wait, UP! FLOATING! She did not feel the ground beneath her feet, and a short look below her confirmed that. She then felt her head lightly bump the ceiling, and she could not help but smile. She was flying. She was doing something she had always wanted to do, but, being a science wiz, thought impossible.

"Oh my God…I can't believe this," she breathed. Amanda's eyes suddenly widened and she flew to her bed to look at the clock. "What's wrong?" Nadia asked.

"It's 9:29. Peter…said he would be here by 9:30."Nadia floated to the ground.

"He knows time?" She asked, astonished. Amanda shook her head.

"No. I gave him my watch and a piece of paper last night. I wrote what time I wanted him here on the paper and when it matched the face of the watch, he should be here. I hope he didn't forget…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure he didn't." suddenly, the girls heard the sound of crunching snow and saw light flash across the part of Amanda's bedroom that was closest to the driveway. This struck fear in the girls' hearts.

"Shit! My parents are home!" The light in the room was off, so she didn't have to explain why she and Nadia were floating in the air just a few seconds before. "Nad, can you go downstairs to stall them? No, better yet…are you coming with me?" Nadia stared at her best friend with sad eyes.

"Not this time. I'm sorry." Amanda's face showed grief, but then nodded to show that she understood. She grabbed her duffel bag from under her bed and carried it over to the window, pushing it through onto the half roof. "I'm ready to go, Peter Pan," she whispered.

"Ready when you are, my lady." Nadia gasped. That was a boy's voice. No, a TEEN'S voice! She looked towards the window and saw Peter Pan standing there, cocky as ever, in his 16-year-old form.

"Ah…wha…? Why is he a teenager!" Nadia whispered.

"He's not, it's just too dark for you to see."

"But his voice…" Nadia continued.

"He has a small chest cold, but nothing to really worry about. I have to go, Nadia." She flew over to her friend and they hugged. "I'll miss you. Take this. It was Wendy's gift to me, but I think you will need it more than I will. It's fairy dust. Use it if you ever feel a powerful urge to see me. And always remember – Neverland is the North Star, Polaris, second to the right and straight on 'til morning."

"Thank you…I'll miss you, too." They let go of each other, hearingmultiple footstepsrunning up the stairs. Too bad they did indeed see the girls floating in Amanda's bedroom. Unbeknownst to the girls, Amanda had left the door to her room open, so the light from the room next to hers filtered in, giving enough light to see the outlines of the duo. Amanda's parents had also received a call from Nadia's mother asking where she was, so they rushed home from the city. When they arrived at the house, Nadia's parents met up with them. They also came inside and accompanied the redhead's parents up the stairs.

At the very last second, Nadia truly made up her mind.

"I'll come back for you. I promise!" Amanda said in a hushed whisper. She flew out of the window after Peter, grabbed her duffel bag, and flew off, Tinkerbell circling the pair.

"No you won't…because I'll be there with you," Nadia said, but this did not fall on deaf ears. Suddenly, Peter was back in the room. He flew around Nadia and landed noiselessly behind her. He lightly pushed her towards the window.

"You will, will you?" He whispered into her right ear.

"How did you hear me?" she asked.

"No time for that. Nadia, you are almost an adult. Think of all the wonderful things you can do and see in Neverland."

"I am," Nadia said softly. The song "Clocks" by Coldplay started to play, which was coincidentally perfect for the moment.

"Imagine a world, like nothing you've ever seen, where every day is an adventure. A world where you'll never have to grow up, or grow old. Come with me. All you have to do is leave home behind, but you can never come back. Never." Peter moved to stand next to the window, facing Nadia.

"Never, is an awfully long time."

* * *

**I hope you liked it. I know I did. I WON'T BEUPDATING FOR A WHILE. I am leaving for a one week cruise in Costa Rica on February 18. I will be writing chapter 8, maybe even 9 as well, on the cruise, so do not fear, my faithful readers. I shall have a chapter or two, maybe even three for you when I come back. Ciao! PLEASE REVIEW! I love you!**


	9. Ch 8: Departure and Arrival

Defying gravity

I am SOOOOO sorry! Wow I haven't updated in such a long time! cries But here it is, chapter 8! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own peter pan

* * *

Amanda's parents were running up the stairs with Nadia's parents, frantically trying to get to Amanda's room so that they could keep her home. They got to the door, and saw Nadia just being pulled out of the window by a shadowy figure that looked like a boy covered in leaves.

"Pinku! Get back here this instant!" Nadia's mother cried, running to the window. Pinku is Nadia's Indian nickname. The four adults were at the window in an instant, but failed to catch the girl. By coincidence, the song 'Flying' from Peter Pan the 2003 movie started to play on Amanda's radio/boombox, fitting the situation perfectly. Amanda shouted joyfully, and the parents looked out of the two windows - they had opened the one next to the open one. Then they were all startled when they saw Amanda dive from the sky and shoot past the windows, twirling and twisting, and all with a huge silly grin on her face. Her parents couldn't say anything - they were too dumb-struck by Peter Pan being real.

"She was right..." was all her mother could get out. And because Amanda had already accepted living in Neverland for the rest of her life, her parents were already fading from her mind, though they never would completely. She would always remember, because of her intense love for them, and she would indeed visit. Once every so often.

Peter gave the adults a nasty look and gnashed his teeth, an extremely childish action for a boy of 15. Amanda had flown to Nadia and had taken her hand, teaching her to be stable in the air. Then, like a ball of light, Peter Pan flew to the girls and took Amanda's hand, smiling charmingly at them, and pulled them away from the house, the parents yelling and screaming for their daughters to return to them, and for the boy to release them at once. But, of course, the selfish youth would not.

Amanda turned her head, a tear streaming down her cheek, and let go of Peter's hand to wave goodbye. Peter took her hand again, and flew off into the night.

_"Forget them..." _a voice seemed to say.

They flew for what seemed like hours, but hours not of boredom. They 'oohhed' and ahhed' at the sights, and indeed, it was the second star to the right. They were about to head into that star, and saw a vortex of brilliant lights that lit up the night sky around them.

"Take hold of my ankle!" Peter yelled in the roar of the vortex's spinning and pulling them in. Amanda grabbed his ankle and nodded to Nadia to do the same to her. When they were all connected again, Peter yelled, "Whatever happens, don't-let-GO!" They were suddelny lurched forward, collapsing into the vortex and out into night once more, with stars surrounding them again. Not just above them, but below, as well. They soon realized, after they broke apart, that it was water once Peter stuck his hand in and it formed ripples.

Imagine...just throw a pebble into a pond and it forms many ripples. Those ripples could completely change one's life. Peter was Amanda and Nadia's pebble. He formed the ripples in their lives that would come and force them to make decisions they normally would never make.

The sky became lighter, and they saw the water and the light hue on the horizon, then the outline of an island with huge mountains and tall trees. This was where they were headed. The sky got considerably lighter, and it looked like morning. The sun came through the cloudy sky, shining in all its glory at the return of Peter Pan, melting the ice on the vast ocean and the snow on the island, which formed many streams and washed into the salty water that surrounded the island. The island, the infamous Neverland, started to bustle with life. Amanda looked down at the pirate ship and saw that the pirates had figured out that their mortal enemy was back, and looked up at Peter, flying in front of her.

"Peter, can we please go to the island? A bit faster? I think the pirates noticed you're back and I really don't like the idea of being shot at." The boy laughed.

"Oh, alright. I wanted to play around with the codfish, though..."

"Peter..." Amanda said with a warning tone.

"Oh alright! I'll distract him, cause he's out on deck now." Amanda looked down and took the telescope Peter had handed to her. She handed it to Nadia, frustrated that she couldn't find Hook, and heard her friend gasp.

"What is it? Did you find Hook?" she asked.

"I sure did..." Nadia answered. This was the man they would be fighting? It's too bad he was so handsome...

"Ohh, let me see!"

"No, I think we should be getting back."

"Oh, yeah, I guess."

"Tink!" Peter yelled. The girls heard an annoyed jingle in Peter's chest pocket, and she came flying out, obviously miffed. He made a face. "Hmm...no, I don't think I'll trust you with this. Girls, go to that mountain peak, and just fly down and you'll find little hits in the trees. Tell the lost boys and girls that you are aquaintances of mine. They won't shoot you like they did to Wendy, because they are used to me bringing back kids." He pointed to a mountain, and the girls nodded. Tinkerbell started yelling at him in her fairy language, and he swatted her away, diving down towards the ship and dodging a cannon ball.

"OH CAPTAIN HOOOOOOOK!"

"PAN! SHOOT HIM, YOU IDIOTS!"

"HAHAHAHA! CAN'T CATCH ME! WHOOOOO!" He circled the ship and missed the 5 cannons that were shot at him, one of them shooting through the railing of the ship. Hook stood there, seething. He grabbed a telescope from some nearby pirate and he looked up to the sky, stopping when he saw a dark skinned girl.

"An Indian?" he asked no one in particular. His angry face slipped, and he followed her with his eyes. Pan had already flown away. He threw the telescope to the pirate and walked to a rowboat. "We are going ashore! Prepare a boat, you dogs! Hurry up! I don't have all day!" The grubby pirates rushed to do what their Captain had ordered, too afraid of being gutted.

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Sorry, it's been sooo long since I last updated. But I'm back, with a vengeance! And a new look to this story since I'mtwo years older now than from when I started it. I think...has it been two years? I don't know lol. But it's been a while, and I have new ideas for it. I think that it's a bit immature for me now, but I'll touch it up. It's not my favorite story, and I'm currently working on a few others, mostly Inuyasha ones, but I do have another peter pan story in mind and I will write it soon. 


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